Support Seeding the Future
More than ONE-THIRD of plant species in the U.S. are at risk of disappearing, according to a 2023 report from NatureServe. With your help, we can reverse this trend. DONATE NOW.
Donate Now & Get Special Perks
Plus, all donors who participate in the matching gift will get a thank you gift from us—a limited edition United Plant Savers enamel pin. Proudly display it on your jacket, foraging basket, or favorite hat.
We’re grateful to the folks at Mountain Rose Herbs, who have supported us in various ways over the years, including their groundbreaking Seed Stewardship Project, which has helped raise awareness about three at-risk plants by offering seeds from Gentian alba, Lobelia cardinalis, and Echinacea purpurea to all their customers this year.
Our Botanical Sanctuary offers a unique opportunity—we can collect seeds from our prairies and woodland gardens, and we can expand our seed collection area by partnering with our existing botanical sanctuaries.
That’s why we’re launching the Seeding the Future Project. Our goal is to construct a state-of-the-art seed bank that allows us to collect, catalog, and share critical native medicinal species for conservation, restoration, and for supporting forest farmers. We’ll start with key, at-risk species that are endemic to southern Appalachia, such as Ginseng, Slippery Elm, Goldenseal, Ramps, Butterfly Weed, Angustifolia, and Lobelia. As capacity allows, we’ll expand to other at-risk medicinals.
Your Dollars Will Go 2x As Far
When you donate by December 22, a generous, anonymous donor will match your gift. That means any donation you make now will go twice as far to help United Plant Savers build a seed bank next year.
Your gift of:
- $25 = $50 to outfit the seed bank with microscopes that allow for species identification.
- $50 = $100 to build a germination center and gardens to grow more seeds.
- $100 = $200 to help fund the cold storage for seeds that need cycles of dormancy.
- $1,000 = $2,000 to support 2 Americorps service members, who will be helping seed bank daily operations.
Giving Has Its Benefits
All donations of $100 or more received between now and December 22 may receive a beautiful 8.5” x 11”print of Deep Ecology Artist fellow, Sarah Greenman’s prairie botanical watercolor.
All donations of $1,000 or more between now and December 22 will receive the watercolor and more! Get a lifetime UpS membership and on-site recognition at the seed bank once it’s completed next year.
Together, we can make this at-risk
medicinal seed bank a reality.
Creating a seed bank is no small feat. We estimate it will cost upwards of $100,000 to build a seed bank that will allow us to store viable seeds for the long haul. The Terraformation organization has generously shared its seed bank building resources with us, and it’s clear that the Seeding the Future Project is a complex undertaking.
We’ll plan to construct a new building that needs:
- Temperature-controlled storage: dehumidifiers, air conditioners, refrigerators, and freezers.
- Seed-saving tools: a vacuum sealer, seed separator, scale, airtight containers, hygrometer, sheet pans, sieves, storage boxes, probes, brushes, sorting trays, and forceps.
- Other specialty items: a fume hood with HEPA filters, fire extinguisher, pest control systems, GPS units, field notebooks, thermohygrometer, soil pH meter, and so much more!
It’s a big task, but it’s doable if we work together. We need your help in order to launch the Seeding the Future Project, preserving biodiversity for years to come.
Will You Join Us in Seeding the Future?
We are so excited to take this next step in being a leader of medicinal plant conservation.
With your donation to United Plant Savers’ Seeding the Future Project, you can be a part of the solution! To donate, select a donation option below, download and mail in this form, or give us a call at 740-742-3455 to make your donation over the phone. We are so grateful for your support. Thank you.
DONATE NOW
As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, all gifts may be tax-deductible
