in Marina’s Locke-Paddon Park is already a beloved amenity in the city. Communities for Sustainable Monterey County seeks donations to enhance this resource for our youngest gardeners. You can help support a 40-square-foot addition to the garden, complete with native wildflowers, a vegetable garden, and age-appropriate seating and climbing areas for kids to explore the natural world. This may be the only Big Idea on the group’s list that includes a “mud kitchen,” but every green space this group is helping to cultivate makes a difference for neighborhoods and for the climate. “To add this next layer to the Oak Woodland Community Garden would be a true blessing and would be an amazing space for our community.” -Valine Moreno DEL MONTE FOREST CONSERVANCY Year Founded: 1961 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 0 paid, 12 volunteers Budget: $531,450 (831) 373-1293 delmonteforestconservancy.org BIG IDEA: One of the best ways to learn about local habitats is to explore them, according to the Del Monte Forest Conservancy. The nonprofit’s Youth Environmental Education Program organizes outdoor field trips, teaching students about unique Monterey Peninsula forest and coastal dune habitats. Donations to this Big Idea cover all costs of the program, from the interpretive naturalists leading the hands-on ecology lessons to the magnifying glasses, binoculars and nature journaling supplies for K-8 students. “Dear Miss Kirsten and Miss Melinda, thank you for teaching me about Native Americans, plants, animals and habitats. The sketches and rubbings were fun, along with the hikes. Thank you for teaching us to pay attention to the world around us and look and listen to nature.” -Charlie, Zoe and Mia, Robert Down Elementary students ELKHORN SLOUGH FOUNDATION Year Founded: 1982 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 30 paid, 100 volunteers Budget: $7,543,944 (831) 728-5939 elkhornslough.org/foundation BIG IDEA: While those captivating sea otters may get all the attention, Elkhorn Slough Foundation supports the entire 4,200 acres of vibrant wetlands, oak woodlands, organic farms and other lands of the Elkhorn Slough. This foundation focuses on protecting and restoring the slough’s rare habitat, from helping endangered species to promoting healthy relationships between industry and ecosystems. As federal funding becomes increasingly uncertain, donors can help maintain the ongoing work of this group’s Big Idea. “Elkhorn Slough Foundation has helped us connect with nature again. I live 10 minutes away from Moss Landing, and I’d never been kayaking before. So many in our community grew up surrounded by nature but now live in cities, and they’re scared of going out. They don’t know the language, they don’t know where they can go to parks. I’d love to volunteer to get people outside. It would be beautiful to connect with them and say, ‘There is a place you can go on walks. If you want to go, I’ll take you.’” -Leonor Mendoza 114 Monterey County GIVES! 2025 mcgives.com ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY DONATE ONLINE MCGIVES.COM “Elkhorn Slough Foundation has helped us connect with nature again.” -Leonor Mendoza, Elkhorn Slough Foundation LANDWATCH MONTEREY COUNTY Year Founded: 1997 Paid Staff and Volunteers: 3 paid, 50 volunteers Budget: $500,039 (831) 759-2824 landwatch.org BIG IDEA: Affordable housing and land conservation are not necessarily competing forces, and LandWatch Monterey County advocates to do both. The group’s Big Idea focuses on bringing these two critical Monterey County needs together in projects like rezoning offices on Garden Road in Monterey that became 60 housing units for MPUSD teachers and staff, and agricultural worker housing that accommodates over 2,500 residents. LandWatch organizes bilingual outreach to raise awareness about options to make the development more affordable and climate friendly, including compact housing designs built closer to jobs and amenities. “Where would we be without LandWatch? As a former Monterey County supervisor, I know how effective LandWatch has been as our advocate for sustainable development. For the past 28 years, LandWatch has served as our watchdog over constantly threatened natural resources, farmlands, coast and water supplies. Tirelessly, LandWatch advocates for city-centered, climate-friendly growth and affordable housing. It has alerted us to bad projects—like the Monterey Downs horse track and Armstrong Ranch subdivision—and stopped them. But needed projects like Pebble Beach’s workforce housing and Tanimura & Antle’s farmworker housing get LandWatch’s support. Because of that, Monterey County hasn’t yet lost its soul to urban sprawl.” -Karin Strasser Kaufman SPOTLIGHT
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