Hostas to help Heifer in Woodstock

“Hosta Happening” will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery Inc., 11618 McConnell Road, Woodstock. The event is sponsored by Rich Eyre, Susan Eyre and Margaret Eyre, 93, otherwise known as the “Hosta Queen.”

All proceeds will benefit Heifer Foundation/Heifer International.

The Hosta Happening has hundreds of varieties of hostas for sale to benefit Heifer Foundation. All hostas one gallon or smaller are $5. Volunteers and staff will be available to answer any questions about Heifer International and Heifer Foundation on the day of the sale. Refreshments will be served.

Come out to meet the president and CEO of Heifer Foundation, Domingo Barrios. Barrios will be on hand all day to discuss Heifer Foundation gifts through endowments, wills, trusts and estate planning.

Donations to Heifer Foundation are invested in endowments, which create a perpetual revenue stream to support Heifer International programs and operating revenue.

Heifer International is a nonprofit, humanitarian organization dedicated to ending world hunger and poverty and caring for the earth. HI 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 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 43 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. Margaret Eyre, the Hosta Queen, coordinates volunteers to help divide and sell the hostas.

At 12:30 p.m., Domingo Barrios will explain how Heifer Foundation offers a sustainable solution to world hunger and poverty.

At 1:30 p.m., “Hostas of Distinction” will be presented by Mark Zilis of Q&Z Nursery in Rochelle, Ill. Meet Zilis, hosta world authority and hybridizer, and hear about great hostas of distinction. He also will have his newest book for sale, “The Hostapedia: An Encyclopedia of Hostas.”

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