Back to School Appeal 2026
Dear Friend of Boxerwood,
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Can we count on you to help make the flowers bloom, the frogs sing, or a classroom of children skip with joy? It's only July, but next month schools will be back in session, and Boxerwood needs your help to be ready for the students who are counting on us.
For 25 years, Boxerwood educators have connected thousands of Rockbridge children with the thrill, wonder, and consolation of the natural world. Some of our first young explorers are now scientists, foresters, teachers, engineers, artists, farmers. Many are parents too — so yes, we are already teaching our next generation of Earth stewards!
The Boxerwood Educational Foundation (BEF) exists for one purpose: to ensure children from families of limited means grow up with years of outdoor learning just like their friends. Donations to BEF keep our school programs, clubs, and camps equitable for all. This is a big undertaking, yet last year BEF supported hands-on outdoor learning for 1,551 Rockbridge children in need – more than half of the 2,600 youth we serve.
Earlier this spring, you may have received an appeal to keep Boxerwood thriving — if you gave, thank you. And if you’re looking to double your happiness, a back-to-school gift does something specific: it helps cover camp and program fees, so cost is never the reason a child misses out. We're $30K short of what we need for our 26-27 youth programs. Your gift this summer helps close that gap — we’ll put it straight to work.
With gratitude, on behalf of BEF and the children Boxerwood serves,
Elise Sheffield
Boxerwood's Program Director
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PS. Beyond camp scholarships and program subsidies, BEF helps with special situations too. This year, as one example, BEF donors helped support outdoor adventures for two teens living with family in a motel. The teens lacked access to nature, yet every Wednesday, a Boxerwood after-school club got them kayaking, hiking, birdwatching, planting trees, and more. Because of you, they and their friends were part of it all.
Support Boxerwood
Boxerwood teaches people how to love and care for the natural world that sustains us all. Donations large and small from supporters like you keep us going. Translate your values into action by supporting our grassroots work—we’d be honored to know you are part of the team.
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Donations to Boxerwood sustain our environmental education programs across all local public schools, help maintain the garden, nature center, and PlayTrail for recreation and learning, and promote conservation awareness and action across the Rockbridge community.
Thank you for supporting our mission
Winter 2025 Year-End Appeal
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Dear Friends,
When I sat down to write this letter, my 10-year-old said, “You should tell them that Boxerwood is a place where parents can take their kids and the kids can just be free.” I’m not sure I can make a better case for Boxerwood than that, but I am going to try.
This year, we’re celebrating Boxerwood’s 25th anniversary. That’s 25 years of community, connection, and care, 25 years of Boxerwood’s growing with and for Rockbridge County. As we celebrate this milestone, I am delighted to return to the Boxerwood team as Executive Director. Our Earth stewardship mission, our education programs, and the Garden itself are beloved to me. I am especially excited to return now, because it is clear to me that Boxerwood is made for these times.
Boxerwood is a place for connection. In this cultural moment, I know that many of us encounter strong currents that push us toward isolation and uncertainty. Yet Boxerwood stands against those currents. Boxerwood is about coming together, building relationships, and expanding our kinship with one another and the Earth.
The challenges our society faces today cannot be solved at an individual level. Instead, we need to join in the joy and satisfaction of doing something important together – and that’s what Boxerwood provides.
Many of you have already joined us in this endeavor as members, volunteers, and financial partners. You’ve experienced how Boxerwood lets us step out of our separate selves into living relationships.
We can’t do it without you – your donation to our Year-End Appeal makes this work possible. When you support Boxerwood, you’re investing in impactful education programs, beautiful gardens, and vital stewardship actions. And more than that: you’re investing in the relationships and the joy that sustain our community.
This moment calls us forward. To use our resources for the good of the world. To trust that unity of purpose generates the solutions we need. Boxerwood is not only where we answer that call together, it is how.
Thank you for 25 years of support, and all that’s still to come!
Ben Eland
Executive Director
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Other ways to give
Donate stocks, bonds, and
mutual funds
Donate through Edward Jones:
acct# 23715342 dtc# 0057
Make a direct transfer
from an IRA
For those at least 70.5 years old, you may do this without incurring taxable income. Talk to your financial advisor to learn more, then contact us.
Planned giving
Boxerwood Education Association
963 Ross Road
Lexington, VA 24450
boxerwood.org | 540-463-2697
Tax EIN: 54-1937944
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Click here to view and download our Planned Giving brochure.