What!? A Yurt at ICG!
A child walks into a makeshift fort created with blankets, cardboard, and foliage.
Ithaca Children’s Garden believes in connecting children to nature for a better world- even in the rain, sleet, and snow. 

But when torrential summer rains strike or the winters become too cold for our preschoolers, we are left at a loss for safe onsite shelter. A shelter has been a priority for years, and living through a pandemic, has shown us how critical and urgent the need is. 

ICG lacks a 4-season shelter at the Garden to support our primarily outdoor-based program during inclement weather. Ironically, having an indoor shelter on-site makes being outside all year round possible. 

ICG is raising funds to install a yurt at the Garden, constructed and ready for fall 2021 programs. A yurt is a round structure that provides the same protection and comfort as a stick-built structure, along with durability and longevity.

The ICG yurt will help increase equitable access to nature by providing shelter for ICG’s most vulnerable participants and visitors- those very susceptible to variable temperature and weather extremes. AND the yurt will house a toilet and a sink (if your child has been to ICG programs, you might guess how this will be an exciting alternative to the outdoor porta-potty).  

Our community has already raised $37,400 to support this project. Now we need you. 

On June 23rd, during Giving is Gorges, you can make a gift to ICG to support the yurt and help connect children to nature all year round.

Will you join us? There are more Giving is Gorges details to come, but in the meantime, build your own paper yurt with us!
Gaia Circle gives back
Gaia Circle spring 2021 group.
After weeks of gathering at ICG to get to know each other, explore the Garden, and try out new things, we brought our fabulous group out into the world. 

We spent one afternoon working with the Cayuga Bird Club on bird habitat restoration in Renwick Woods. The following week we met at The Learning Farm and spent some time weeding and preparing garden beds, feeding the goats, and exploring the amazing land being stewarded by some amazing folks!
A new turtle friend at the Garden
Watch for your fingers and toes in the water during your Garden visit!
A baby snapping turtle has shown up in our Rice Paddy Pond this week and a bigger snapping turtle was spotted by a visitor in the Wetlands.
Monique's Garden story
Monique, ICG's Communications Coordinator sits atop Gaia's head. She is looking down, and smiling.
"In my short tenure, the Garden has become one of the places I feel the most joy as rebellion."
We have been featuring Garden stories lived and written by our team and committee members, and are pleased to highlight our Communication and Marketing Coordinator, Monique's Garden story.

She shares the difficulties in finding green spaces to be wholly herself in as a Black woman, and the joyful celebration of herself and nature, that she experiences while in the Garden.
Your financial support makes it happen
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