The Maymont Foundation makes intensive plans to maintain park grounds

Photography courtesy of Siedah Holmes

RICHMOND—The rolling hills and vibrant fall foliage of Maymont Park require more financial and physical maintenance than meets the eye.

The Maymont Foundation’s annual budget now amounts to about $3 million, an 18-percent decrease from last year, due largely to the recent economic recession.

The City of Richmond owns the park, but it only provides about 11 percent of the funding required to preserve Maymont’s 100 acres, which include the gardens, fountains, office buildings, and a mansion, which serves as a museum.

This upkeep takes a toll on the lives of the very people who work to allow for the general public to enjoy it all.

“[There have been] a lot of cuts, a lot of sacrificing, [including] programs and staff,” says Carol Midkiff, a development associate for the Maymont Foundation.

Because the government contributes little to the park’s conservation, Maymont has had to work diligently to acquire finances from other sources. Grant funding, corporate sponsors, and special gifts play a significant role in covering the $35,000 needed for the basic feeding and care of the 400 animals that call the park home. This sum does not include cost of the animals’ medical expenses or the pay for the zoologists who care for them, so various ways to market Maymont to donors with specific interests in different areas of the park are required to raise additional amounts of money.

“I think there’s a lot of need on the community’s part,” says Caitlin Hanbury, a fellow development associate for the Maymont Foundation.

Programs like Adopt a Living Thing and Animal Appreciation Day give elementary schools throughout the Richmond metropolitan area the opportunity to participate in fundraising while learning about the different wildlife that inhabit the park.

Exhibitors such as the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority and James River Association often collaborate with Maymont’s Environmental Education Staff to educate the young students and their families so that they can become more involved in park maintnenance as well.

As long as the people of Richmond are continuing to be made aware of what they can do to help, Maymont will be well on its way to remaining self-sufficient.

*Originally written on November 5.