Giving Back

Community Service

Our hands in the soil, our hearts in the community.

Planting & GrowingCivic BeautificationPollinator HabitatConservation

In the Field

Our Projects

Wilmington VA Medical Center · 2014–present

Blue Star Memorial Marker, VA Medical Center Wreath Ceremonies

GGGC installed the Blue Star Memorial Marker at the Wilmington VA Medical Center in 2014. Dedication was on Veterans’ Day, Nov. 10, that year. The site continues to be maintained with plantings. Each Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day, GGGC members gather, along with hospital residents and staff, to celebrate in the hospital’s Community Room. This way more veterans, especially those in wheelchairs, can attend the ceremony. A marker is displayed and a wreath is presented.

Chaired by Chris Metzler

Goodstay Gardens, Wilmington · 2025–2027

Goodstay Gardens Renovation

Garden Gate continues its support of the University of Delaware’s Goodstay Gardens, one of Wilmington’s best-kept secrets. After a first season spent on the peony garden, the focus for 2026–2027 is refurbishing other parts of the garden: replacing English ivy with epimedium ground cover and hellebores. The club has allocated $1,000 for plants and improvements, and will again schedule member visits to see the peony garden at peak bloom.

Chaired by Jane Hollingsworth

Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Newark · 2026–2027

Tri-State Bird Rescue Entrance Garden

Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research rehabilitates injured and orphaned wild birds and returns them to their natural habitat. The club is remaking the center’s front entrance bed: drawing up a planting plan for year-round seasonal interest, excavating the site, and installing a new garden. With the help of a subsidy, GGGC will contribute up to $1,000.

Chaired by Margi Prueitt & Barbara Dinsmore

Delaware Museum of Nature & Science · 2012–present

DE Museum of Nature and Science Bobbee Vernon Memorial Garden

In 2012, the club installed a small garden in front of the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science in memory of longtime museum member and two-time GGGC President, Bobbee Vernon. It is designed to be of interest to visitors and touchable to children; to enhance the space; to be low maintenance; and to support the purpose of the museum. Delaware stone and petrified wood are placed among the plantings. Four garden club members provide maintenance for this garden.

In 2025 the club added a garden trail to give museum visitors a walkable path, with new trees and landscaping. This year GGGC has set aside up to $1,000 for additional plantings at the museum.

Chaired by Eda Ross Montgomery

Barley Mill Road, Greenville · 2026–present

Adopt-A-Highway Clean-Up

In 2026 the club adopted a two-mile stretch of Barley Mill Road, from Route 141 to Centerville Road, through the Delaware Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway program. Members hold three roadside clean-ups a year, in April, in June during National Garden Week, and in September, to keep the road clean and welcoming.

Chaired by Laura Scanlan

Various locations, Delaware · 2018–present

GGGC Recycles

This club activity promotes recycling as a civic duty and an environmental responsibility. The club collects Styrofoam, light bulbs, and batteries, which are delivered to the Delaware Solid Waste Authority. GGGC members take #2, 4, 5 plastic to Eco Plastics Products of DE. The goal is to collect enough plastic to earn an ECOP bench that can be donated to a public garden. Members are kept informed on dates and locations for recycling electronic goods and household hazardous waste. This is a DFGC award-winning activity.

Chaired by Anne Aleman

Ronald McDonald House, Wilmington · 1991–present

Ronald McDonald House

GGGC members gather at the Ronald McDonald House to prepare for the Christmas Season by decorating a tree with Noah’s Ark ornaments that members have made by hand. Occasionally some animals get injured or wander off, so they are repaired and replaced. Under the tree is a wooden ark with Noah, his family and the animals.

Chaired by Betsy Brown

Sojourners’ Place, Wilmington · 1994–present

Sojourners’ Place

Sojourners’ Place is a case-managed, residential program that assists homeless men and women on their journey to self-sufficiency. All GGGC members collect and provide non-perishable food and personal items throughout the year.

Chaired by Eda Ross Montgomery

Riverside neighborhood, downtown Wilmington · 2023–present

REACH Riverside Produce Donations

Part of NGC’s 2023-25 PLANT AMERICA — FEED AMERICA program designed to help fight food insecurity. GGGC continues to implement this program by donating food to the two community refrigerators operating in the Riverside neighborhood of downtown Wilmington. Fresh produce is collected at meetings and delivered to refrigerators in front of the Kingswood Community Senior Center and the REACH Riverside Warehouse for Teens.

Chaired by Laura Scanlan

Photo of Renovation of the Blue Star Marker Garden at the Veterans’ Hospital

Veterans’ Hospital, Wilmington · 2025–2026

Completed

Renovation of the Blue Star Marker Garden at the Veterans’ Hospital

This President’s Project honored the memory of Barbara Noseworthy, who chaired GGGC’s Blue Star Marker Project from its inception in 2014. The red tape of working on government property had long kept the club from routinely tending the garden; the project set out to carry out the clean-up and new plantings it needed.

Chaired by Kelly Koontz

New Castle County Family Courts, Wilmington Delaware · 2024-present

New Castle County Family Court Program-Activity bags

The New Castle County Family Court Division has extensive jurisdiction over all domestic matters. The Family Court Division has recently established a waiting room for children with cases going before the court. To avoid having the children idly sitting around for hours the GGGC donates activity bags to keep the children occupied. We have donated books, Mini coloring books, pencils, crayon packs, juice boxes, applesauce, and Goldfish packets. Our donations allow children to entertain themselves during a stressful time in their young live

Chaired by Kelly Koontz