Friends of the National Arboretum

Projects and activities: FONA holds numerous temporary and permanently restricted funds given for various purposes to benefit the U.S. National Arboretum. Every year, in consultation with the Arboretum leadership and staff, FONA releases funds from these restricted assets or general operating funds to the Arboretum to achieve a designated purpose. FONA then works with the Arboretum staff, often over a multi-year period, to ensure that the donors objective for each project or activity is fulfilled in a timely and cost-effective manner. For example, in recent years, FONA has collaborated with the Arboretum on the following projects and activities: -Updating the Arboretums Master Plan and identifying follow-on campaigns and related activities. -Cleanup and restoration as well as ongoing monitoring of Springhouse Run along with monitoring of Hickey Run, two crucial watercourses that traverse the Arboretum, emptying into the Anacostia River and ultimately into the Chesapeake Bay. -Completion of the Flowering Tree Walk, a universal access walkway providing magnificent views of the Arboretums great meadow and Capitol Columns. -Preservation and maintenance of the Arboretums heritage collections, which include the azalea, boxwood, and associated collections; and for general support of all the Arboretum gardens and collections, including funding for interpretive signage. -Funding support for many internships, including: those working in the azalea, boxwood, Asia valley, introduction garden, and other heritage collections and on research. -Luncheon and plant sales as well as promotional support for the annual Lahr Native Plant Symposium. -Evaluating opportunities to support repair of the Capitol Columns and fund their care in perpetuity.