American Plant is a family owned business with roots that run deep in the Washington community.

As a company we realize our tenure as an independent business is based on our relationship with the members of our community. As our sales are generated within the community, we feel it is our responsibility to give back to it by supporting our schools, civic groups and charities.

We accept requests for donations of goods and services, program or directory advertising and sponsorship, for special events or initiatives or for general support. While we are unable to support every request we receive, we try to be fair with an emphasis on selecting groups that serve and support our immediate region.

Read a warming thank you letter we have recently received from helping A Wider Circle.

These are just a few groups with whom we have provided in-depth support:

Bethesda Elementary School — Our Landscape Division and Outdoor Plants Department have made this their pet project. Over the last several years, we have landscaped around the sign at the school entry on Arlington Road. Home Services maintains this area with the addition of seasonal color on a regular basis.
(Go to website)

2007 Light the Night Walk

Light the Night Walk — As part of our ongoing support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (see right column), every year some of our staff forms a team of walkers in this fundraiser to raise awareness of blood cancers and fund research for their cures. We are proud to announce that we have raised over $10,000 this year! We invite our friends and neighbors join us in the Montgomery County walk, or sponsor one of our walkers through the purchase of Atlas Nitrile Touch garden gloves or a cut flower bouquet (a portion of which is donated to the LLS). Contact Sandy Gamble if you are interested in walking with our team. (Go to website)

Pam McDonald Golf Tournament — Since its inception, we have sponsored a hole in this tournament to raise money for Ovarian Cancer research, as well as field a foursome of APF golfers to play in the tournament.

Hurricane Relief
We were all touched by the tragedy of the devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005. That same year, APF made a commitment to donate $33,000 to help Gulf Coast communities. Our funds have supported several worthwhile groups in their direct efforts of relief and rebuilding:

Gulf Coast Rescue Mission Relief of Biloxi, MS. We were given their name by orchid buyer Mary Jo Lally’s nephew (a resident of Biloxi) as one of the few organizations in the area who were able to respond quickly to help the Gulf Coast residents. His believe in the efforts of the mission was also supported by the folks at Kessler Air Force Base. We have heard directly about their efforts as they continue to help the region recover by providing shelter and food to those misplaced by Hurricane Katrina.
(Go to website)

First Book is a Washington-based non-profit whose mission is to provide disadvantaged children with new books. We are very grateful to one of our customers, Kit Lunney, for giving us information about this group. First Book was able to partner with the Gulf Coast Rescue Mission in the collection and distribution of 35 cartons of new books for rebuilding and reopening schools and libraries. Our money helped with the distribution effort, covering the shipping cost to get those books to their destination. Recently, the folks from First Book were able to partner with the Gulf Coast Rescue Mission, sending them 35 cartons of books to support their efforts. (Go to website)

America's Second Harvest, the largest domestic hunger relief organization in the U.S. provides emergency food assistance through a nationwide certified member network, increasing public awareness of domestic hunger and advocating public policies that benefit America’s hungry. (Go to website)

Back Bay Mission of Biloxi, MS, was recommended to us by Kessler Air Force Base and also by the Gulf Coast Rescue Mission as another group who is out in the community every day helping those still feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The Mission itself lost its facilities to the crippling floods, but received two donated work trailers and opened them immediately for the organization of work groups towards the rebuilding effort. (Go to website)

Local groups that we supported in 2005 include:

Acorn Hill Waldorf School, MD
Alice Deal JHS, DC
American Heart Association
Arts for the Aging
Audubon Society
A Wider Circle
Bannockburn Elementary, MD
Bannockburn Nursery School
Barnesville School, MD
Bells Mill Elementary, MD
Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS, MD
Bethesda Jewish Congregation
Blessed Sacrament
Bradley Hills Nursery School, MD
Brookside Gardens
Burning Tree Elementary, MD
Children’s National Medical Center
Clara Barton Center for Children
Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place
Community Preschool-Palisades, DC
Concord Hill School
Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
Crossway Community, Inc.
Cub Scout Pack 1461
Family Support Center
Fourth Presbyterian School, Potomac
Friends of the National Philharmonic
F.S. Key Elementary
Gay Men’s Chorus
Georgetown Prep
Grace Episcopal Day School, MD
Highland Elementary, MD
Holton-Arms School
Holy Redeemer School
Horace Mann Elementary, DC
Hospice Caring, Inc.
Janney School, DC
Landon School, MD
Linkages to Learning
Maret School, DC
Maryland, College Park
McKinley Tech HS, DC
Mid Atlantic Tennis Foundation
Montgomery Hospice
Montgomery Housing Partnership
Murch Elementary, DC
Muscular Dystrophy
Newark Street Garden Club
North Chevy Chase Elementary
Our Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Mercy
Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary
Potomac Home & Garden Club
Primary Day School, MD
Relay for Life
School Without Walls, DC
Second Genesis, Inc.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, MD
St. Bartholomew School, MD
St. Paul’s Lutheran School
Suburban Hospital
Susan B. Koman Foundation at the University of
The Lab School, DC
The Washington Revels
Walter Johnson HS, MD
Walt Whitman HS, MD
Washington Humane Society
Washington Performing Arts Society
Washington Women’s Chorus
Westbrook Elementary, MD
Wood Acres Elementary, MD
YWCA

Of the many foundations, associations, charities and individual efforts, we are especially proud to support on an ongoing basis:

Hospice Caring, Inc. of Montgomery County and The Cottage in Gaithersburg, MD. Hospice Caring is the only non-medical volunteer hospice in Montgomery County. Since 1989, Hospice Caring has provided free practical and emotional support to terminally ill adults and children and their families, and to anyone grieving the death of a loved one. (Go to website)

Food and Friends, Inc., an organization that delivers meals and companionship to over 1,000 people who live with life-challenging illness in the Washington metropolitan area every day. Baking over 75 pies to include in Thanksgiving dinner meals in 2005 was one of our staff’s most satisfying moments. (Go to website)

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society – In addition to being a corporate Gold Sponsor of this group for over five years, our staff sponsors two teams for the Light the Night Walk every year to raise awareness of blood cancers and fund research for their cures. We have also teamed with the Atlas Glove Company to donate a portion of the sales of Atlas Nitrile Touch gloves. (Go to website)

Robert Lebling Memorial Park in Bethesda, Maryland, near the corner of Old Georgetown Road and Wisconsin Avenue. We are glad to have contributed to the beautification of downtown Bethesda through the support of this park honoring Robert W. Lebling, who served two consecutive terms as Chamber of Commerce president and oversaw the Bethesda Beautification Project.

American Plant also supports many local schools, churches and associations in the community. It is our hope that a strong, unified community will support each other as we all continue to grow and prosper.