Koi are shown during last year’s Koi for a Cause in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This year’s event is set for June 29, 2014. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
CEDAR RAPIDS – A Cedar Rapids gardener is making it easy for visitors to donate to a good cause, while enjoying the scenic beauty of her ponds and gardens.
Monica Morley hosted the first Koi for a Cause last year to benefit the HACAP Food Reservoir in Hiawatha and is expanding on the idea this time around.
The second annual event will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 29, at Morley’s gardens at 6702 Spring Cove Ct. NE. Visitors can drop off a non-perishable food item or make a monetary donation to the HACAP Food Reservoir.
Last year’s event was in August, so visitors this time will see a different variety of flowers in bloom. Also this year, Morley is teaming up with Linn County Master Gardener, Becki Lynch, who will be on-site to answer questions about how to attract and support butterflies in your garden.
Morley said summer is an especially high-need time for food banks, as children don’t have access to school lunches as they would during the school year. Experts note that 1 in 4 children and 1 in 5 adults don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
Last year, about 100 people walked through the sensational gardens tended by Morley and her mother, Elena Murillo.
Visitors who bring a donation can enjoy the landscape and learn what it takes to care for the ornamental fish, as well as find out more about butterfly gardens. Handmade, fine-stitched quilts also will be on display and the first 50 visitors will receive a handmade bookmark.
Items needed most at the HACAP Food Reservoir include canned fruit or vegetables, soup, peanut butter and canned tuna or chicken.
“Most of the visitors we had last year all commented that it was a great cause to help people in our area,” Morley said.
See photos from last year’s event.
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