Charlottesville, VA – The Botanical Garden of the Piedmont is pleased to announce that it has met a $25,000 challenge donation from Great Eastern Management Company, a 45-year-old firm headquartered in Charlottesville that, together with its related entities and individuals, has long been interested in supporting civic and nonprofit organizations in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area.

“We are very grateful to Great Eastern for its generous $25,000 challenge gift. It’s the first matching gift that Botanical Garden of the Piedmont has ever received,” commented Dorothy Tompkins, president of the Garden’s Board of Directors. “Every member of the Garden’s Board contributed to meet the match,” Tompkins added, “and we are thankful for the additional 31 donors who contributed to help us meet the challenge.”

The Botanical Garden of the Piedmont is a public landscape garden included in the City of Charlottesville’s Master Plan for the eastern section of McIntire Park. The Garden will focus on Virginia flora native to the Piedmont region and will be designed and constructed on 8.5 acres of parkland at the intersection of Melbourne Road and the John W. Warner Parkway.

Botanical Garden of the Piedmont, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was formed in 2008 to work in partnership with the City to plan, build, and operate the Garden. The the Garden Board is responsible for fundraising for the project and anticipates that some part of the Garden will be open in late 2018.

According to its website, the Great Eastern Management Company was founded in 1972. It “develops, constructs, and manages income-producing real estate properties and engages in other business ventures and investments” and “currently owns and manages multi-family residential properties, shopping centers, and office buildings in Charlottesville and the central Virginia area.” More information is available at gemc.com.