Hosta sale to benefit Heifer International

Submitted by Rich’s Foxwillow Pines Nursery Inc.

A hosta sale and arts and crafts fundraiser will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, at Rich’s Foxwillow Pines Nursery Inc., 11618 McConnell Road, Woodstock.

All proceeds benefit Heifer International and Mano a Mano International Partners. The event is sponsored by Rich Eyre and Susan Eyre.

The Hosta Sale has several hundred varieties of hostas for sale to benefit Heifer International. All hostas are $5 and up. Heifer International is a nonprofit, humanitarian organization dedicated to ending world hunger and poverty and caring for the earth. It provides livestock, trees, training, and other resources to help struggling families build sustainable futures. The recipients of the animals must “pass on the gift” of the first female offspring and provide training in environmentally sound agriculture to another family in need. In this manner, an endless cycle of transformation is set in motion as recipients become equal partners in ending poverty and hunger. Heifer International has provided food and income-producing animals to more than 8.5 million impoverished families in 125 countries in the last 67 years. Rich Eyre worked with this organization in the Peace Corps 44 years ago in Bolivia and he can give testimony to its positive effects in those communities. Rich and Susan Eyre served six years on the board of trustees of the Heifer Foundation. Ed Slomski coordinates volunteers to help divide and sell the hostas. Volunteers will be available to answer any questions about Heifer International on the day of the sale. Visit www.heifer.org.

The Arts and Crafts Fundraiser for Mano a Mano International Partners will raise money to build hospitals, schools, roads and irrigation projects in rural Bolivia. There will be a variety of items for sale. Mano a Mano was originated by a fellow Peace Corps volunteer, Joan Velasquez and her husband Segundo. In 2008, she won the Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service awarded to a returning Peace Corps volunteer. Visit www.manoamano.org.

Tom Michiletti, former president of the American Hosta Society and Midwest Regional Hosta Society, and founder and first president of the Northern Illinois Hosta Society, will be available from 10 a.m. to noon to identify hostas for people who bring the leaves of unknown hostas.

At 11 a.m., Mary Beth Vanous of Q&Z Nursery in Rochelle, Ill., will present “Mini-Small Hostas are Big.” Refreshments will be served.

For more information, call (815) 338-7442 or email to coniflora@richsfoxwillowpines.com.