Friday was an exciting day for the Ozark Natural Science Center!
We gathered at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks in Fayetteville (http://www.bgozarks.org/) for a brief press announcement regarding a major gift from Cargill, Inc. (http://bit.ly/ckSclg).
Our friend Stephanie Burroughs and the rest of the local Cargill Cares council joined us along with local print and television media, and the mango fleet rolled in behind ONSC Associate Director Jason Kindall's new truck (picked up in the nick of time!)
Our eight new canoes were manufactured at Buffalo Canoes in Jasper, Arkansas (http://www.buffalocanoes.com/). Wanting our fleet to be easy to distinguish from outfitter canoes (typically red or green), we agreed to a special "mango" color - and they are certainly bright! The Cargill gift also allowed us to purchase a custom trailer and several essential accessories.
Renting canoes for our various programs has been a significant annual expense for our private, nonprofit organization. Owning our own fleet will not only save us money, but allows us to have more water-based program offerings, which are very popular for both our regular programs and summer camps! Better yet, the canoes were made regionally, meaning the purchase has the ability to allow the dollars spent to "turn" several times in the northwest Arkansas economy by keeping the purchase local.
Be sure to register for summer camps and family programs (http://www.onsc.us/) to come see the mango fleet at home at the Ozark Natural Science Center!
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