Here's an idea - put some tangible 'value' in the pledge the students are taking - ask the kids to pony up 25 cents for their bulb; bulbs shouldn't cost more than that. For those who are unable to pay; your school council already has a slush fund of 200 bulbs to cover this anticipated occurrence. I remember as a kid, I valued my things that I tangibly had to pay for; verses things simply handed to me. But perhaps I'm just an odd ball and kids minds don't work that way anymore. It seems like kids are handed so much without much thought to earning it themselves or saving for something of value - this worries me. Just an idea. Good luck with your venture.

1) To show people that native plants are beautiful, excellent choices for landscaping, to help stop foreign invasive plants from being used. True, but often natives just do not respond the same way to cultivation as they tend to be soil specific, requiring more aeration of the general clayey type soils that constitute the fill that is used in lots homes are built upon. And as people tend to have lawns the way the lawn is handled is generally how the rest of the yard is handled, and that is as easily as possible. 2) To support native plants and animals. These plants were selected because a number of native California butterflies, birds, moths, etc. feed on them. We are also trying to expand the territory of the lonely little grey fox that lives near the conservancy. While many of the plants you list may be attracted to butterflies and moths as well as hummingbirds, you need plants that produce seeds that birds will eat and in your list only the Ribes appears to be so. Plants that are annuals or biennials that produce small seeds for finches or larger seeds for the larger birds of your area, which you need to research. Also butterflies need plants such as milkweed for their caterpillars to feed on. "Lonely little gray fox"??? Grey foxes are solitary hunters! And they can climb trees which is one of their escape routes from dogs. You need large trees with cavities in them for the fox to hide in. Also you will need debris piles, such as piled up branches etc for rodents to live in that the fox can feed on. 3) the bushier plants are meant to discourage trespassing. There is a real issue of homeless people basically invading sections of the river and destroying it. We want to use these plants as a barrier to save the last pristine section of land, which is only maybe a fourth of a mile long, less wide. None of the plants you list can create a suitable barrier apart from the Cornus and even it is not enough to dispell intruders. You need plants like THISTLES fronted by NETTLES to form a wall at least 5 feet deep to discourage intruders but once these idiots learn you are growing Datura then forget it as they will simply find a way to destroy your barriers to get to this plant that is used as a drug. I could not believe that you would list such a dangerous plant like this. It should not be encouraged to be grown. 4) open the door for more native planting projects. If this one is successful, we would do greater habitat restoration projects, where we would actually plant more things that would naturally occur in the area. I really think you people should contact the California Native Plant Society in your area and really talk this over with them. They have the knowledge and resources that can assist you. Check the link. Here is a link that might be useful: CNPS Santa Clara Valley

The workers cherry picked among my things (with permission), and then Habitat chose what they wanted. They did like my cabinets, and they told me the same thing someone above said: They only want cabinets with backs that are stable (I assume for storage, so they can be stacked), and only took the uppers because they went with the lowers. They did take the perfect condition blinds and hood, but nothing else. I was able to find homes for everything in the end, except the oven which doesn't work quite right and looks bad too. That went to recycling. If you have a safe way to do it, you can try Freecycle for anything that the thrift stores won't take. Just do it away from your house (big box parking lot is good) because people go through the listings looking for job sites to rob. OTOH, the person who meets you in the parking lot is grateful to get something usable for free. Some places also have free markets where everybody just brings their stuff and take home what they need from other people's stuff. Awhile back, when I redid some bathroom fixtures (some very weird ones in perfect shape came with the house), one of the plumber's helpers knew a place where they could use them (I think it was a charity in Mexico). Yeah, you can get a donation form for your taxes from Habitat or other thrift stores, but you can always find someone who can use stuff that's in decent condition if you just keep asking who wants it.

The Best and Worse Charities! Interesting Information (Not mentioned in this list but a couple of years ago, the head of the Canadian cancer society was making $650,000. Also, does the Heart & Stroke Foundation and the Cancer Society really need to send a glossy magazine full of pictures to every household? How much of the donated dollars was spent on those magazines which, after a few minutes of being read, go into the recycle bin?) Some interesting stats in this message. The Terry Fox organization Contributes $0.83 for every dollar raised to cancer research. The Canadian Cancer Society $0.22 for every dollar raised. Admin costs for the Terry Fox Run is low because much of the admin costs are taken by many volunteers. $0.17 is used for run promotion and supplies. Every person organizing managing takes all expense other than the run donor sheets and some signage to cover signage that is not recyclable Do you know that the CEO of Shriners�the Imperial Potentate, makes $0.00 per year. How about that for a salary? There are 22 hospitals helping kids in Canada , the USA and in Mexico . His salary is matched by the Provincial Potentates income which is also $0.00 per year. So the next time you see a Shriner in a "Mall" selling whatever, give generously. Ever wonder where that donation money goes? Keep these facts in mind when "donating". As you open your pockets for yet another natural disaster, keep the following facts in mind; we have listed them from the highest (worse paid offender) to the lowest(least paid offender). The worst offender was yet again for the 11th year in a row is, UNICEF - CEO, receives $1,200,000 per year, (plus use of a Rolls Royce for his exclusive use where ever he goes, and an expense account that is rumored to be well over $150,000.) Only pennies from the actual donations goes to the UNICEF cause (less than $0.14 per dollar of income). The second worst offender this year is Marsha J. Evans, President and CEO of the AmericanRedCross... for her salary for the year ending in 2009 was $651,957 plus expenses. Enjoys 6 weeks - fully paid holidays including all related expenses during the holiday trip for her and her husband and kids including 100% fully paid health & dental plan for her and her family, for life. This means out of every dollar they bring in, about $0.39 goes to related charity causes. The third worst offender was again for the 7th time was, Brian Gallagher, President of the United Way receives a $375,000 base salary (U. S.funds),plus so many numerous expense benefits it's hard to keep track as to what it is all worth, including a fully paid lifetime membership for 2 golf courses (1 in Canada , and 1 in the U. S. A. ), 2 luxury vehicles, a yacht club membership, 3 major company gold credit cards for his personal expenses...and so on. This equates to about $0.51 per dollar of income goes to charity causes. Fourth worst offender who was also again in the fourth spot, for every year since this information has been made available from the start 1998is amazingly yet again, World Vision President ( Canada ) receives $300,000 base salary,(plus supplied - a home valued in the $700,000 - $800,000 dollar value range, completely furnished, completely paid all housing expenses, including taxes,water/sewer,telephone/fax, HD/high speed cable, weekly maid service and pool/yard maintenance, fully paid private schooling for his children, upscale automobile and an $55,000 personal expense account for clothing/food,with a $125,000 business expense account). Get this, because it is a "religious based" charity, it pays, little to no taxes, can receive government assistance and does not have to declare where the money goes. Only about $0.52 of earned income per dollar is available for charity causes. Of the sixty some odd "charities" we looked at, the lowest paid President/C.EO/Commissioner) was heading up a charity group in Canada . We found, believe it or not, it was... Ready for this... I think you might be surprised... It is none other than... The Salvation Army's Commissioner Todd Bassett receives a salary of only $13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 Billion dollar organization. Which means about $0.93 per dollar earned,is readily available and goes back out to local charity causes... truly amazing��and well done "Sally Anne". No further comment is necessary..."Think Twice" before you give to your Charity of choice as to which one really does the best for the most or the least for the most, for that matter. Remember charity starts at home. Let's look after the people of this country. 99% of people probably won't forward this.I just did! It is better to be informed than not!!!