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December 1, 2025

Dear Friend of the Greenhouse,

As the year draws to a close, we want to express our deepest gratitude for your incredible support of Friends of the Greenhouse. Because of your generosity we were able to handle the following projects in 2025:

•Install new fencing after several trees came down during a spring storm
•Purchase materials for building a barn door to improve security in the classroom building 
•Replace broken glass panels in Greenhouse 2
•Repair the storage shed garage door 
•Purchase electrical supplies and materials for completing the installation of the smart technology equipment and lighting in the new teaching greenhouse
•Replace our ancient boiler with a cleaner and more efficient on demand wall system

These improvements have allowed us to increase our food production, enabled our aging greenhouses to continue to function and enabled Cornell Cooperative Extension to expand their educational programming. Your generosity has made a tangible difference in our community. 

This year’s successes have fueled our vision for the future. Over the past year we have had significant problems with our older greenhouses. Around February of this year the climate control system failed. It is over 25 years old, and replacement parts are no longer available. We managed to find an older gentleman who was able to diagnose and fix the problem. Then our boiler kept shutting off, so we were kick-starting it every day. We were on the verge of losing all our seedlings and the entire summer season of produce and programming. The City promised to replace our three aging greenhouses with 2 new, large, state-of-the-art production greenhouses in 2026, but with the current budget crisis we are not so certain if that will come to fruition. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will get through this winter of 2026 successfully.

To help keep us functioning we will need your continued support. 
Please make a tax-deductible donation today to help us continue our vital work. This can be done by completing the year end appeal form below or by donating online via PayPal on our website. 

Please visit our website at www.schenectadygreenhouses.com to learn more about what we have accomplished in 2024 and 2025.
 
We thank you for being a vital part of the Friends of the Greenhouse family and for your commitment to the Sustainable Living Center.

Janet Chen, President, Friends of the Greenhouse

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