It’s a brisk November morning. The first real cold day of the season. Wind cuts through just enough to add an extra pep in your step. The sugar maple in the parking lot is showing off all her glorious gold. The innocent chatter of forty 3rd graders from nearby Barrett Elementary School are at Ruffner Mountain on a field trip, eager to learn more about the natural world and its wonders. Spirits are high despite the low temperatures. A student commented that she wished she could visit Ruffner Mountain every day. Once terrified of snakes, Jessica, one of the new teaching naturalists, introduces students to Zea, the corn snake, with confidence and ease.
Flashback to summer…
It’s June in Alabama. You know the drill. A hot-humid-clothes-stick-to-your-body-kind of summer day. Beads of sweat collect along your forehead and upper lip. Why bother showering? What you may not expect is raw sewage running down 81st Street from a broken sewer line. The road leading to Ruffner Mountain is closed for two days. Visitors must be re-routed. No working restrooms, no running water at the Nature Center. A group of 25 professionals, here for training, must be informed that in order to use the restroom or wash their hands, they must trek outside in the oppressive Alabama heat to the pavilion. An executive director and staff scramble to keep it moving. Always moving. Over $8,000 and a sympathetic plumbing company later, the smell has subsided and the line is repaired.
Ruffner Mountain is made up of stories. Some heartwarming, some just real life stuff. In order for us to continue creating new stories, we need your help.
Sometimes it’s to help pay for the sewer bill and sometimes it’s to help pay for that sparkle in a child’s eye when they see a snake or a salamander up close for the first time - you are part of Ruffner’s story.
From all of us at Ruffner Mountain, thank you!
How can you help?
If you love Ruffner Mountain and want to support our mission of advancing the understanding of ecology in a rapidly changing world, consider making a donation. Donations help with almost every aspect of maintaining a public nature preserve, especially in lieu of any federal or state funding. From our conservation initiatives, such as restoration plots on the mountain or research projects with other organizations, to our ability to provide environmental education programs to the general public and local schools, every donation counts. Help make a difference by clicking the button below:
If you use our trails and facilities, whether you hike here regularly, walk your dogs on the mountain, use the restrooms, have get-togethers at the pavilion, stop by the Nature Center to say hello to our animal ambassadors, or participate in programming: help us maintain them by becoming a member or renewing your membership. Know someone who loves Ruffner? Give the gift of membership this holiday season. Just as every step has an impact on our trails, every membership has an impact on our ability to maintain them. Help support the mountain you use and love by clicking the button below:
Have a question about a donation or membership?
Contact Carmen at carmen@ruffnermountain.org or 205.833.8264.
What impact can your support have?
Let’s take a look at some numbers.
July 2018 through June 2019
