The Jon Diehl Memorial Fund has deeply touched disadvantaged young women at Oak Creek Youth Authority and young people at Linn County Juvenile Detention. Established in 2015 in honor of Jon Diehl, an Oregon attorney and entomologist, the Fund has received donations in excess of $6100. This funding has made a positive difference in the lives of incarcerate youth as well as helped our local environment.
Because of the generosity of our donors, these young people have grown native plants such as milkweeds, assisted with habitat restoration, met with natural resource professionals, conducted beach clean-ups, and received hands-on inquiry based lessons covering topics such as wetlands, stream health, pollinators, and monarch butterflies. Through these lessons, students learn to be better land stewards as well as more productive individuals.
In 2016, we plan activities with youth inmates at the Oregon Youth Authority facility near Albany, Oregon and Linn County Juvenile Detention Center, such as:
- Growing milkweed plants to aid monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
- Engaging in service learning projects to give back to the local community and environment through activities like building nest boxes for Western bluebirds and other cavity nesting species.
- Engaging in hands-on inquiry lessons to those who cannot leave the facility.
- Taking young women from the Oak Creek Youth Authority on field trips to wildlife refuges to assist with habitat restoration and meet with professionals in the field to learn about careers.
We at the Institute for Applied Ecology and all the incarcerated young people touched by this Fund greatly appreciate the generosity and kindness of donors like you.
If you would be interested in donating to the Jon Diehl Memorial Fund please visit our Donate page here.
Juvenile Detention Students Grow Milkweed
