In the middle of Florida’s most densely populated county sits 100 acres where the pace of life slows down. Roses bloom in tidy rows. Palms arch over shaded paths. Children crouch beside a pond, watching for movement in the water. This is the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo—free, open 363 days a year, and cared for by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation (FBGF).
For more than two decades, FBGF has worked alongside Pinellas County Parks and Conservation Resources to fund the extras that turn a well-maintained park into a true community treasure with education programs, special events, and capital improvements the county’s tax-supported budget can’t stretch to cover. Pinellas Community Foundation (PCF) has been part of that story since 2004, when FBGF first received a $2,000 grant to help build a boardwalk over environmentally sensitive land within the gardens, a small but telling first step in a relationship with an organization whose mission has always been to make Pinellas County’s green space accessible to everyone.
A Program Takes Root
Nearly two decades later, FBGF prepared to open a new chapter for the gardens: the Majeed Discovery Garden, a two-acre children’s garden and outdoor classroom, and in 2021, PCF awarded FBGF a $15,000 General Operating Grant to launch Growing Up WILD, a nationally developed early-childhood nature curriculum synced to Head Start and NAEYC learning standards. The funding covered a Growing Up WILD educator, program materials, and outreach to schools, homeschool groups, and youth organizations across Pinellas County.
The program didn’t always go according to plan—a staffing gap midway through forced FBGF’s Education Committee to lean hard on volunteers—but it still reached deep into the community. Field trips from six local schools and youth organizations brought roughly 224 students through the gardens. An Earth Day celebration drew 115 attendees to Growing Up WILD activities. The Great American Teach-In reached 308 students and teachers, including a Zoom session with a Dunedin middle school. And the Foundation’s annual Pumpkin Fest, which featured a Growing Up WILD seed-sorting activity, drew 925 attendees on a single Saturday. Janet Kotash, chair of FBGF’s Education Committee and a retired teacher, ran an early pilot of the program herself, watching children take on the roles of bees and flowers in the tropical fruit garden. “Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces, watching their excitement, and hearing their laughter was exactly what we had hoped for,” she said of that first class.
Furnishing a Dream
By 2023, the Majeed Discovery Garden was nearly complete, but rising construction costs during the pandemic had forced FBGF to cut the furnishings and educational equipment from the original budget. Pinellas Community Foundation and FBGF partnered once again, this time on a $100,000 capital grant* that brought ADA-compliant benches, outdoor classroom tables and chairs, and mobile education carts built to last more than 20 years.
The garden opened to the public on November 4, 2023, and the furniture went to work immediately. Within its first months, the Outdoor Classroom hosted 13 field trips serving 371 children, 14 preschool programs reaching 104 kids ages 0-5, and seven birthday parties for nearly 100 more. Families began stopping by simply to eat lunch or read a book on a bench between the flowers. Field trips have brought students from Pinellas, Pasco, and Hillsborough counties, along with homeschool groups and Girl Scout troops; and a new sensory garden was built specifically for visitors with special needs.
A Foundation Built on Relationships
Across three grants spanning a nearly twenty-year relationship, PCF has directed $117,000 toward FBGF’s programming and infrastructure. It’s a relationship that FBGF’s leadership doesn’t take lightly. “Getting this PCF grant gives us renewed hope that we can tell our story well,” said Vernon Bryant, the Foundation’s first executive director, when PCF awarded its first operating grant.
That belief has outlasted any single leader. Today, under executive director Mia McCormick, FBGF is looking at what comes next. The team is expanding Majeed Discovery Garden programming into homeschool cohorts, family classes, and rentals that generate new revenue for the gardens. At the same time, they’re continuing signature community events like Pumpkin Fest, Earth Day, and the beloved Holiday Lights in the Gardens, which alone draws well over 75,000 visitors to Pinellas County each winter.
What started with a small grant for a boardwalk has grown, alongside the gardens themselves, into a lasting partnership—one built on the shared belief that Pinellas County deserves a green space where every family can wander, learn, and simply breathe.
Pinellas Community Foundation is dedicated to preserving our environment for future generations to enjoy. Your commitment to preserving Pinellas County’s green space can help support the important work of nonprofits focused on the same. Inspired by what is possible? Learn how to establish a fund at Pinellas Community Foundation and put your giving to work: pinellascf.org
—
*ARPA Nonprofit Capital Project Fund
