Published: July 2002
William J. Doyle - President and CEO with Barbara Carr, CEO of Chicago Botanic Garden
PotashCorp’s $150,000 grant to the Chicago Botanic Garden was celebrated at a reception April 24 at the Glencoe-based gardens, with several company representatives, including William J. Doyle - President and CEO on hand.
The strong education component of both the Garden’s conservation initiative and PotashCorp’s Fertile Minds program made for a natural alliance.
The company’s Fertile Minds program is a public education initiative designed to combat the negative perceptions commonly associated with fertilizer by the general public.
Partnering with the Botanic Garden allows the Garden’s 900,000 annual visitors to learn in a science-based environment how fertilizer is not only beneficial to farm crops but how it can also enhance their own backyard gardens, lawns and flowers.
Just to put it into perspective, 900,000 people is nearly the population of Saskatchewan, which makes the alliance a huge opportunity for PotashCorp to spread the word about fertilizer.
“PotashCorp is excited to be working with the Chicago Botanic Garden on a project that brings science and best practices to the miracle of sustainable plant growth,” said Doyle. “By providing both funding and professional expertise to this initiative, we hope to advance society’s understanding of environmentally sound soil and water management practices. Because this project is science-based, we are confident that fertilizer’s role in land stewardship and global food production will be better understood and appreciated.”
A Neighborhood Partnership
The partnership has attracted some new visitors to the Garden as well. As the 385-acre Garden is just a stone’s throw from PotashCorp, some employees are already using the location’s scenic jogging trails and dining facilities over the lunch hour. Lengthier visits are made after work and on weekends.
The partnership between PotashCorp and the Chicago Botanic Garden will also benefit scientists, researchers and educators as the work being undertaken at the Garden is often in collaboration with universities and scientific organizations all over the world.
The partnership emphasizes the fact that both PotashCorp and the Chicago Botanic Gardens share the same ideas about the environment. PotashCorp doesn’t believe that industry and a healthy environment need to be mutually exclusive, a view that is shared by the Botanic Garden.
“As a company, we believe in being supportive of the communities where our employees live and work to improve their quality of life,” said Doyle. “Our support of the Chicago Botanic Garden is just one example of good corporate citizenship.”
Working committees established by PotashCorp and the Chicago Botanic Garden will ensure that the goals and objectives of the partnership are met.
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