The Massen Greene Foundation and other organizations have contributed to the efforts of Back to Natives Restoration, a non-profit organization that advocates for native plant propagation, encourages community involvement in ecological restoration and conservation, and conducts environmental education programs.

Back to Natives Restoration, a non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration and conservation of California wildlands, recently announced they have received a $15,000 grant from the Massen Greene Foundation to grow and improve their native plant propagation and learning program at their nursery in Santa Ana, Calif.

Over the past year donors like the Massen Greene Foundation have made it possible for Back to Natives to remove three shipping containers at the nursery, giving them space to grow more plants.

In August, Back to Natives purchased a Bobcat and a trailer. The Bobcat helps staff accomplish work around the nursery and in the future will help with habitat restoration and in installing native plant landscaping to help
raise more funds.

In September BTN staff and volunteers constructed a shade structure and 15 new propagation tables, which provide additional space to propagate native plants. Each can hold up to 189 1-gallon pots or 297 4-inch pots. In December Back to Natives purchased three small barns to house tools and equipment for the program.

"When corporations and foundations donate to small grass roots organizations like Back to Natives that are right here in their own back yards, funds can be immediately put to use for the benefit of the community," said Back to Natives board president John Kaiser. "Our supporters receive a great deal of return on their investments."

"The generosity of the Massen Greene Foundation will help our program grow and flourish in 2015," adds the organization's executive director Reginald Durant. "The knowledge our interns and volunteers gain from participating in our programs results in more sustainable behaviors, and those positive changes spread like the waves when our volunteers lead by example and positively influence their peers."

Back to Natives strives to involve the community in the process of ecological restoration and conservation because it believes that a little "ecological enlightenment" and a chance to "get your hands dirty" is the best way to improve relations between people and nature. They use profits from designing locally native plant landscapes to fund learning and environmental education programs.