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CDRI Desert NewsFlash
December 2021
Photos in this edition of the Desert NewsFlash were shared by Michael Rupe, Austin, Texas.
It's Giving Tuesday, November 30th!

We've broken through our practice of delivering the Desert NewsFlash on the 1st of the month at 6 a.m. The reason? It's November 30th! It's Giving Tuesday!
 Today is an international day of giving, so we wanted to be in on that message. And, of course, we, too, are happily giving!
We're giving by giving thanks to those who have supported CDRI. Thank you to our volunteers, the visitors, CDRI's members, the individual donors, and the granting foundations who have awarded CDRI with generous grants in 2021 and previous years. 
We're giving thanks to CDRI's volunteers this Saturday, December 4th, with the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, along with special recognition to our Vital Volunteers.
And we're giving thanks by giving end-of-year bonuses to the CDRI team. 
We're giving thanks to the individual donors and the granting foundations who have seen CDRI worthy of receiving their donations.
We're giving thanks for the thoughtful gifts, like the birdseed, the oranges for the Orioles, mineral water for the team, and See's chocolates, the home-grown vegetables, the personal notes, and for the time that so many of you took to post the great reviews on TripAdvisor, Google Business, and Great Nonprofits. All of those "things" are meaningful. Thank you!
Finally, on this Giving Tuesday, we are giving thanks for your thoughtfulness, your friendship, and for your giving this Tuesday and every day.  
Click Here to Donate
“Thank You!” from the CDRI Team
At this time each year, we reflect on the year’s accomplishments, and we look ahead with a sense of excitement for the many programs and site improvements planned for the coming year. We are grateful for your support throughout 2021, whether through membership, visitation, donation, or volunteering. Your participation helped us experience an incredibly successful year. Thank you very much.
In terms of performance, our 2021 attendance numbers and gift shop revenues have surpassed those we saw in pre-pandemic 2019, while memberships have grown an additional 10% above December 2019 levels. We’ve enjoyed our conversations with visitors, reconnecting with them and hearing their stories, and welcoming friends, new and old, back to the Nature Center. To each of you, thank you very much for supporting CDRI in your exceptionally unique ways. We are grateful.

 WHAT DID WE ACCOMPLISH?
In 2021, we saw:
  • the renaming of the cactus greenhouse to the Maxie Templeton Cactus Museum Collection;
  • the creation of a meditation garden with interpretive panels around the Cactus Museum greenhouse;
  • additions to the greenhouse, including two new steel tables and bright, new table signs identifying the Genus of cacti represented in the greenhouse (signs to be installed this month);
  • newly designed and updated trail guides and botanical garden booklets;
  • the addition of interpretive panels throughout the Pollinator Garden;
  • repair and remediation of trails in the Botanical Gardens damaged by heavy rainfall over the summer;
  •  directional signs added to the Botanical Gardens and along the path leading to the Bird Blind;
  • enhanced the Bird Blind with professionally mounted photographs of frequently seen birds at the CDRI site;
  • created a one-of-a-kind Scat and Tracks Exhibit inside the Visitor Center nearing completion this month;
  • visitors coming out in record numbers with the reopening of the Visitor Center and Gift Shop;
  • the triumphant return of the BBQ & Auction fundraiser;
  • several weddings, plus welcomed private and public school groups and adult tour groups; and very importantly,
  • volunteer engagement throughout the year in the Botanical Gardens and Visitor Center gardens, adopt-a-highway clean-up days, feeding birds at the Bird Blind, trail work, and event set up.  
Your thoughtful engagement with us in our Mission has enabled us to reach the near close of this incredible year with a promise of hope, gratitude, and a sense of confidence as we look forward to welcoming 2022.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
           
  If you wish to donate before the year’s end, please either:
Please join us for the

 

CDRI Nature Center

&

Botanical Gardens

 

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

 Saturday, December 4, 2021

 

5:15 p.m. – beer/wine/drinks

6:00 p.m. – dinner

6:45 p.m. – dessert/awards/announcements

 

at CDRI’s Powell Visitor Center


Desserts are welcomed!
RSVP: events@cdri.org or 432-364-2499
For that hard-to-buy-for person
on your list,
"gift" a CDRI Membership this year! 

A CDRI Membership now comes with CDRI's participation in Reciprocal Admission Programs with the American Horticultural Society and the Association of Nature Center Administrators. So, not only do you get free admission to the CDRI Nature Center and Botanical Gardens, now you get free access to about 330 botanical gardens and 125 nature centers across the U.S.!
Your membership or your gift membership helps support CDRI. At the same time, it gives the recipient the experience of being outdoors in nature at almost any place and anytime throughout the year. You can't beat it! 
Sign up today! http://www.cdri.org/membership.html.

From the team at CDRI,
we wish you
Happy Holidays!

Come visit soon and often!
Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute, P.O. Box 905, Fort Davis, TX 79734
432.364.2499

www.cdri.org


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