Feb 3, 2012

HRI Receives DonationsSource: The Horticultural Research Institute

At last month’s MANTS Show in Baltimore, the Horticultural Research Institute announced that it recently had received two sizable donations to fund future research programs.

HRI received a $100,000 donation from Dayton Bag & Burlap, Dayton, Ohio, with the creation of the Dayton Bag & Burlap Employees Fund.

“Dayton Bag & Burlap celebrated our 100 year anniversary in 2010. We arrived there by the hard work and loyalty of our employees. Illustrating that loyalty is that, for instance, our president and owner has been there for fifty years, six of us, including myself, have been there over thirty years, and several more have been with us for 10-15 years. We wish to honor those folks with our donation. We believe in HRI and the great work they do. The health of the nursery business is vital to the health of Dayton Bag,” said Bob Couch, nursery sales manager at Dayton Bag and Burlap.

HRI also received a $50,000 donation from the estate of William Flemer III to create the William Flemer III Fund within the HRI endowment. William Flemer III was a third-generation nurseryman, born and raised on Princeton Nurseries in Kingston, N.J.

William Flemer IV announced the fund during the HRI reception at the Mid-Atlantic Trade Show. Flemer stated, “[William Flemer III’s] bequest to HRI exemplifies his lifelong devotion to the advancement of ornamental horticulture, and his abiding affection for the nursery industry and its people, his friends and their families, who have given their lives to the work he loved. His family shares that affection and appreciation, and is happy to know that, through HRI, valuable research, which will further improve this rewarding profession, will be his lasting legacy.”

You can learn more about HRI by visiting www.HRIResearch.org.