November 24, 2020
Happy Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Day!
We acknowledge the Nacotchtank tribe as the original Indigenous owners of the land along the Anacostia River. This land includes where the National Arboretum is today.

Please enjoy our updates from FONA, the U.S. National Arboretum, and Washington Youth Garden.
Giving Thanks to Our Donors
This November, we want to thank everyone who makes our work possible.
This week we give a thanks to our Heritage Society donors who have included FONA in their estate plans.

Thank you for believing in our work and investing FONA's and the Arboretum's futures for generations to come. Past gifts have funded the Flowering Tree Walk, endowed scientific research positions, and much more. Thank you!
Double Your Donation
Join our David Fairchild Society! Thanks to our "FONA Rock Stars" who made generous lead gifts, all donations and pledges to FONA through Dec. 31st will be matched and your donation will be doubled.

Your support makes a difference. FONA adapted its programs this year in response to COVID to continue educating children and teachers virtually, feeding local families with produce from our gardens, strengthening community networks, and planning the Arboretum's future. Your support makes this all possible.

Join our David Fairchild Society and help shape the future of the National Arboretum.

#OptOutside
The National Arboretum is open during normal hours this week — including Thanksgiving day!

Even though it's late fall, there's always something blooming here! Check out the camellias in the Asian Collections, or wander through the conifers in the Gotelli Conifer Collection.

Get outside this week in the Arboretum's 446 acres of open space. Please remember to wear your mask and mind your distance from other groups on the trails.
You can find this flower, Camellia 'Winter's Cupid', and many other camellia varieties blooming now until spring in the Asian Collections.
Check out AFRO Beets' Instagram for Christin's full recipe play-by-play.
From Our Staff: Christin's Famous Stuffing
Need a vegan dish this Thanksgiving?

Christin, our On-Site Program Manager, made a vegan butternut squash stuffing for our staff Thanksgiving lunch last year that blew our socks off. Now he's sharing this super simple and incredibly tasty recipe with you!

We surpassed our Garden Transformation Fundraiser goal of $1,000 in less than one day! Our partner SeedMoney has matched your donations with another $1,000.

Your donations allow us to build new raised beds so we can grow more food for our community during the pandemic and make our garden more accessible. Thank you to all who helped us reach our goal!

But we're not stopping there. We're dreaming bigger.

We are setting a new 'stretch goal' of raising $2,000 by December 15th, and we're asking for your help to reach it. With this larger goal, we can build these beds out of cedar wood — a more expensive but longer-lasting wood.

Fancy Florals
Want to add some fancy florals to your pie this year? There are many edible flowers and culinary herbs in season right now you can use to decorate your pie!

Pegplant, a garden blogger in the DC Metro Area, gives some simple tips and tricks to help add flare to your Thanksgiving.

Photo by: Pegplant, a local DC metro area garden blogger
Explore the Arboretum
Our Washington Youth Garden team has compiled these 4 free apps to help you explore and experience the Arboretum:
The National Arboretum's official app includes a map of the grounds, information about the collections and plants, and self-guided tours.

Connect to nature and your community through augmented reality experiences in public spaces and use sensory skills to investigate the plants in the National Arboretum! Great for families.

Identify plants, fungi, and wildlife with image recognition technology connected to databases by the National Geographic Society and the California Academy of Sciences.

Identify any bird you see with either a picture or answer 5 simple questions. Learn everything about its diet, habitat, and bird songs.
CARES Act - Individual Giving
A reminder that all taxpayers (both those who itemize and those who use the standard deduction) can deduct $300 in charitable giving to public nonprofits in 2020.
Prior to the CARES Act, those who used standard deduction could not deduct any charitable giving.

For those who itemize their taxes (which accounts for nearly all taxpayers with an income of $200,000+) the CARES Act significantly raises the amount of the charitable giving deductible from 60% of the filer's adjusted gross income (AGI) to 100% of AGI.

Gifts to donor-advised funds and private foundations do not receive the revised deductible under this provision.
Arboretum Open Hours
Monday - Sunday: 8 AM - 5 PM
The National Arboretum has resumed its normal operating schedule (8 AM - 5 PM every day). Some buildings and collections remain closed for staff and visitor safety.
Friends of the National Arboretum
3501 New York Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002
202.544.8733
FONA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization with the mission to preserve and enhance a vibrant public space and support experiential programming that instills a love of plants, nature and the outdoors in all who visit, while promoting the overarching research and education mission of the U.S. National Arboretum.

Since its inception, FONA has helped support the Washington Youth Garden, Capitol Columns, Flowering Tree Walk, horticultural and research internships, restoration of Springhouse Run, and much more.