Mount Pleasant DC Forum

[ANC1D]

For Immediate Release

Contact: Jennifer McGuigan Babcock (202-271-3549)

Sep 15, 2003


MOUNT PLEASANT ANC AWARDS $1,000 TO BANCROFT GARDEN PROJECT FOR GATEWAY

WASHINGTON (DC) --- On September 8th, the Mount Pleasant ANC (ANC-1D) awarded a $1,000 grant to the Bancroft Garden Project to partially fund a new fence for the school's playground and new botanical garden. The botanical garden, currently under construction, is the pilot project for the United States Botanical Garden's (USBG) School Garden Project.

“This fence will replace a six-foot-tall, chain-link fence with something more attractive and welcoming,” explained ANC Commissioner Jennifer McGuigan Babcock, who is also the chair of the ANC's Grants Committee, “the fence will be a gateway through which the entire community can enter the new garden.”

The USBG School Garden Project will provide an outdoor “living laboratory” for all grade levels of the Bancroft Elementary School, complete with a full curriculum and supplies. Students will gain hands-on-experience growing various plants and investigating natural phenomena scientifically.

Funding for the $40,000 botanical garden project will come directly from the USBG; however, the USBG grant does not provide for fence improvements.

Historic Mount Pleasant, a Mount Pleasant organization dedicated to the preservation Mount Pleasant's architectural heritage, awarded the Bancroft Garden Project the initial $3,000 grant that made the new fence feasible.

The Mount Pleasant ANC is an elected body representing the residents of Mount Pleasant. It advises D.C. government agencies and the city council on issues involving its constituents, and is a formal part of the D.C. government. In addition, the ANC awards limited grants to community-based initiatives on a regular basis. The commission holds public meetings on the first Monday of each month at 7:30 pm at 3166 Mount Pleasant Street N.W.

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