On what seemed to be a regular day, we met a special friend with exponential knowledge about Ohio's native plants and how gardening ties in with environmental justice.
Photo of native plant garden in front of Queen of Apostles school by the Black Arts Center
Hal makes a living as a day trader. He's been a professional photographer, realtor, mutual fund salesman, CPA, and partner and financial officer of a small manufacturing company.
Now, while working full time, he volunteers over 300 hours a year to various conservation, church, and community programs.
Why Hal Is Important To Us
As we were on the south side of Toledo looking at a potential residential center, we saw Hal and his wife tending to a garden in front of Queen of Apostles school. Our first thought was that we had to find out how to get our own children involved with the garden, and that maybe these two people could assist us.
As a new non-profit organization and not yet use to talking to complete strangers, we worked up the nerves to walk over and introduce ourselves.
To our surprise Hal was not only willing to connect us to the school, but shared so much knowledge about the garden and its purpose in the neighborhood. He talked about the native plants and the insects they would attract.
He explained how they dug the space for the garden directly under the roof of the building, to collect the rain water which will filter the pollution from the air.
After we went our separate ways we just couldn't let this chance connection end there. After some back and forth emailing, we now have the pleasure of interviewing Hal early this upcoming June and share his knowledge to you all.
Stay tuned, and check out the latest newsletter from Wild Ones below.