Longboat Key Garden Club blooms grants and scholarships

The Longboat Key Garden Club’s mission is simple.

Help those who are trying to help the environment.

On April 17, the club brought this mission to fruition at its annual meeting at Joan Durante Park.

The club awarded $24,000 in grants on Tuesday afternoon. This figure does not include the amount given to five local college students in scholarships, nor does it include the club’s book donation. The book donations will be given to 175 kindergarteners. Each student will receive a backpack and the book “The Night Before Kindergarten.” Club president Susan Phillips said the figure is relatively the same as last year.

As recipients were awarded their checks, they shared with the crowd their plans. Save Our Seabirds is using it to grow native plants on its property. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is using it to send 12 kids to summer camp. The scholarship recipients are using it to study in Costa Rica and finish Ph.Ds.

In addition to the grants and scholarships, the club completes a beautification project each year in honor of Arbor Day. This year’s Arbor Day celebration isn’t until April 27, but Phillips shared the plans with the crowd.

This year’s project will be different and bigger. The project will help beautify the area around the Public Works Department and the Sleepy Lagoon neighborhood.

The Arbor Day project combined with the grants and scholarships is the most the club has ever given, Phillips said. The path to this is simple.

“We raise more, we give more,” she said.