The Native Plant Project provides people in Philly with the raw materials to take action to support biodiversity in our city. In 2025 and 2026, we distributed a collective 25,000 packets of plant seeds all across the city, from the river wards to west Philly, South Philly to Germantown.

This project is possible because each winter we get over 200 volunteers to help us pack up these bulk seeds into packets, complete with educational labels. We're not just delivering plant seeds. we're giving people information on how to make the most of them.

Last year we were extremely lucky that our event host, Indy Hall, was able to provide us the space for free. This year unfortunately they can't afford to donate the space. Indy Hall is the right venue for us because they let us store materials in between events at the space, and most importantly, do not put pressure on our attendees to spend money to be in the space. It's not a bar- it's a third space. Since they are not making money off selling food and drinks to our volunteers, they need to keep the lights on some other way.

Here's the cost breakdown for this project:

Event poster artist $400
Venue reservation: 400 per event (I'd like to run at minimum 3 events, ideally 4)
Plant Seeds $500 (Pinelands Nursery over in Jersey got us a huge head start with a massive seed donation, so our budget here is lower than last year!)
Seed Packet bags: $700 (we used to use plastic, but switched to waxed paper which made this project MUCH more expensive, but better environmentally)
Labels: $100
Beer and pretzels for our volunteers: ~150 per event (I can sometimes get the beer and snacks donated by Yards Brewing, Sulimays Diner, or elsewhere).

In total, I need between 3,350 and 3900 to run this project (more funding = more events). This projects hosts events that bring people together, educates people about the importance of native plants in the city, and directly supports Philly wildlife by getting native plants into the dirt. For all that good, the price tag is pretty low, but I can't do it alone.

Native Plant Project 2027