Navarre Garden Club, Inc will move forward to build a garden center.

In April, 2007, the Garden Center Planning Committee made a presentation to the membership asking for agreement to move forward with raising funds and planning the building of a garden center. The membership then voted on whether or not to proceed. According to the ballot committee, 77% of the membership voted and 66 % of votes counted were in favor of proceeding. The Club will soon launch a campaign to raise construction funds.

In order to begin raising funds for the Garden Center, Navarre Garden Club had to take certain organizational steps:

• Navarre Garden Club, Inc. was incorporated in the State of Florida, October, 2005 as a non-profit corporation whose goals were essentially education and promotion of horticultural knowledge, floral design, and environmentally friendly gardening.
  
  
• NGC, Inc. applied for and received 501 (c) (3) tax exempt status on July 31, 2006 and further classified under an advance ruling as a public charity.  The advance ruling expires May 31. 2010.  Tax ID 65-1190364
  
  
• NGC, Inc. applied for and received tax exempt status in the State of Florida October pursuant to chapter 212, Florida Statute.  Certificate of Exemption expires October 2011
  
  
• NGC, Inc. complied with the registration requirements of Chapter 496, Solicitation of Contributions Act.  Registration # CH22128.  We registered and paid the fee of an organization that will solicit up to $25,000 in a year (no paid officers).

This means that all fund raising for the garden center will be done by the Garden Club (so that donors can get the tax benefit of donating to a 501 (c)(3) organization).  All funds will be held and invested by the Club until such time that there are sufficient funds to begin construction.

Fund Raising and planning for the new Garden Center will be done by the Garden Center Planning Committee, a committee of the Navarre Garden Club.

The Committee, which will be handling large sums of money on behalf of the Club, is more formally organized than most other Club committees.  The committee  consists of:
      Chairman:  Linda Henderson
      Vice Chairman:  Joan Stokes
      Secretary:  Jolene Depew
      Co- Treasurers :  Carol Conard and Rob Loy 
      Members:  Sharon Barnes, Sharon Johnson, Meta Seltzer, Rene Jiron- Loy, 
      Geri Thurman, Lynn Wilson, Linda Marshall, Dianne Nelson, Judith Curtis and Carolyn Wells McLaughlin. 

The committee meets the second Tuesday of each month.  Committee meeting minutes are available on the Members Page.  Questions for this committee should be directed to Linda Henderson at 850-936-4950 or click here to send an e-mail.

This committee has developed a strategic plan for this project, and will be working on a budget and fund raising plans in the future. 

Other  legal and financial organizational steps  related to this project are in progress:

Members of the Navarre Garden Club met with a Corporate Attorney, Edsel Matthews, and CPA, Kerri Litton of O’SullivanCreel, and are going to open a new legal subsidiary, wholly owned by the Club, that will hold the construction and operation of the garden center building once funds have been raised.  The purpose of this new subsidiary is to limit liability to the Club during the construction phase and while the building is being operated and maintained.

Once this new subsidiary has been incorporated, we will apply to the IRS for a 501 (c)(25) status for this subsidiary.  This is a special tax status designed especially for holding and operating a building that serves the purposes of a 501 (c)(3) organization.

The new subsidiary will have an Executive Governing Board.  The plan at this time is that the officers of the committee will serve as the Governing Board, along with a member appointed by the Executive Board of Navarre Garden Club, Inc, Lynn Wilson.  The Governing Board will meet the First Friday of every Month.

The Garden Center Committee has already designed a logo, corporate seal, business letterheads and Thank You Cards for the new subsidiary.  The Letterhead is at the top of this page.

Garden Center Fundraisers: