Sally in her home garden next door to the Morris Arboretum.
Remember Sally by Making a Gift to Enhance Youth Access at the Morris Arboretum
In April 2020, our community lost a close friend and bright light when Sally Jane Gendler, Arboretum neighbor and volunteer, succumbed to a battle with cancer. To carry on her legacy and her advocacy, her family and friends have established the Sally Jane Gendler Youth Education Endowment at the Morris Arboretum. This new fund will provide an opportunity for several hundred more young people annually to engage in meaningful outdoor learning experiences and vocational training experiences - all at no cost to the youth, their families, or to their schools or other organizations with which they are affiliated.
Sally held a master's degree in Special Education from the Bank Street Graduate School of Education. She worked in early childhood development for the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Philadelphia and the Hall Mercer Child and Parent Center at Pennsylvania Hospital. Sally also held a Master Gardener certificate from Penn State Extension with which she had merged her skills and passions to implement with the staff at the Mount Airy Recreation Center a program called Cooking from the Garden: Seed to Table. Sally was an enthusiastic member of the Garden Club of Philadelphia and had advanced as a judging candidate for the Garden Club of America. She generously shared her expertise and her warm personality at the Morris Arboretum as a Guide, a horticulture volunteer, Co-Chair of the Moonlight & Roses committee, and a member of the Directors' Guild.