Sep 30, 2005

Oregon Aids in Katrina EffortsSource: OAN

A weekend fund-raiser, organized by the Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN), brought nine Oregon independent garden centers together to net more than $20,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Twenty percent of all sales (as well as 100 percent of sales of plants donated by three wholesale growers) from September 24 and 25 will go to either the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross or Northwest Medical Teams. Participating Oregon retailers included Boring Square Garden Center, Boring; Garland Nursery, Corvallis; Al’s Garden Center, Gresham, Sherwood and Woodburn; Max & Hildy’s Garden Store, Hillsboro; Egan Gardens, Salem; Rogers Gardens Inc., Springfield; and Cornell Farm, Drake’s 7 Dees and Margaret’s Enchanted Gardens, all of Portland. Oregon growers who contributed plant material included Champoeg Horticulture, Aurora; Fisher Farms LLC, Gaston; Evergreen Nursery, McMinnville; and A&R Spada Farms, St. Paul. In addition to plants, Fisher Farms made a cash donation of $2,678, and the OAN’s Clackamas Chapter pitched in $1,000. All participating retailers and growers are member of OAN.

The total collected for the relief effort was $21,106. Each nursery and grower had the option of choosing the American Red Cross or Northwest Medical Teams (or a combination of the two) to receive the funds.