The Children’s Garden Hosts Green Sale On Black Friday
SARASOTA, FL — Forget about Black Friday, the Children’s Garden and Art Center, located at 1670 10th Way in Sarasota, wants shoppers to go green this holiday season.
The nonprofit hosts its Green Friday Sale through 4 p.m. on Friday. During this time, all annual garden memberships and gift certificates are 10 percent off. Annual memberships offer entry to nature, gardening and art programs, as well as discounts on summer camps, fairy tea parties and special events. Meanwhile, gift shop items, live plants and general admission (Friday only) is 20 percent off.
The organization has served the Sarasota community for 17 years, said Robin Fulk, director. It was founded by her mother, Joan Marie Condon, who previously operated Alley Cat Café. Fulk ran a shop, Wild at Heart, inside her mother’s restaurant.
It was a popular café, but her mother sold it and “put all the money into the Children’s Garden,” Fulk said. “She really wanted to have a green space for kids that was just theirs, whimsical and interactive.”
She’s worked with her mother at the garden since it opened. Once they perfected the space, they began adding regular programming, including summer camps, tea parties, arts and crafts workshops, and special events.
It’s been a challenging year for the nonprofit, she added. Many of its fundraisers – including its annual adult Easter egg hunt and events hosted for other organizations – were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The garden is operating at a loss of $35,000 this year, Fulk said. “For a very small organization making $90,000 and under, that’s a big hit.”
To help with wages, the garden received a PPP grant. It was also just approved for additional CARES act funding.
“It’s been a long summer. It’s been a long struggle,” she said.
The number of visitors to the garden has been down since it reopened as well, Fulk said. And while they still offer their nature, gardening and art programs, they’re grab-and-go projects rather than interactive classes. Families pick up their supplies and find a space in the garden to work on their projects.
“Everything is scaled back. Instead of starting right at 11, we’ll spread it out and tell people to come between 11 and 12,” she said. “And we’re lucky to have 2.5 acres with picnic tables, a porch and enough space so everybody can, for the most part, social distance, which is nice. It’s a good blessing for us.”
Fulks hopes the Green Friday Sale will draw new and previous visitors to the garden. Memberships and gift certificates can be purchased in person or by calling 941-330-1711.
This article originally appeared on the Sarasota Patch
