THE SLUG REPORT > After a year and a half of budget cuts and layoffs, the sun is starting to shine again on UC Santa Cruz’s Arboretum. A $127,000 donation from the estate of former Navy officer Dudley Green in honor of his parents, Hugh and Edna Green, will be used to start a new endowment.
“Starting August of 2012, we will start getting the proceeds from the investments on [the $127,000],” said Stephen McCabe, director of Education and Coordinator of Research for the Arboretum. “It will be about $5,000 a year, increasing over time.”
McCabe said the money will help with functional needs such as “weeding and watering,” but will also go towards internships and jobs for students.
UCSC has John Bost to thank the most for the endowment. Bost, a retired estate planning lawyer and professor emeritus at San Diego State University, was the Green family’s financial advisor. He and his wife Jenny are also Arboretum volunteers and donors, and Dudley loved gardens, so choosing the Arboretum for the gift in honor of his parents made sense.
According to McCabe, the endowment couldn’t come at a better time for the Arboretum.
“We have had to do some cutbacks recently,” he said. “We’ve cut staff, and we’d like to have more hours for student workers.”
Because no money will be seen for another year, McCabe hopes that gift shop and plant sales and donations increase to cover the interim, so that the Arboretum can continue its educational mission.
“We’re really excited about the endowment,” he said. “In addition to having gardens, we want to give students good experiences as well.”
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