The Green Center

April 4, 2023
by Kari Pratt

The Green Center  8025 Blackberry Ave, St. Louis, MO 63130

 “Founded in 1998, the Green Center is a natural oasis in the heart of the St. Louis metropolitan region. The center is headquartered in a residence built in 1932 and is located in Kaufman Park, University City, Missouri.  The heart of the Green Center is its outdoor spaces which include a nature explore classroom, learning and demonstration gardens on the headquarters' grounds; a half-acre prairie within a short walk of the headquarters; a half-acre Missouri wetland and the 26-acre Ruth Park Woods.

We encourage visitors to explore the Green Center's outdoor spaces on their own or take advantage of our classes, guided field trips, spring and summer youth camps, scout badge programs, and service learning and volunteer opportunities. Artists find inspiration here for their photography, painting, and creative writing.

Bringing the outdoors in, The Green Center provides nature-related art exhibits by talented local artists.”

As a volunteer, you might like to participate in some of the following activities: 

Outdoor:  Restoring wildlife habitat, plant propagation, leading interpretive walks (training provided) or gardening.  Indoor:  Fund raising, grant writing, assisting with art exhibits, cultural programs, serving on a working group (education, marketing, facilities, cultural arts, etc), office assistance (mailings, filing, archiving, etc.), computer assistance (website design/maintenance). 

As a volunteer, I had the opportunity to spend a day teaching second graders about prairies and wetlands in the Ruth Park Woods.  In preparation for playing with fourth graders this spring, we were exploring those same woods and came upon this tree that had been blown over in a storm…so cool!  If this sounds like a volunteer activity you would enjoy exploring, you can find more information at: The Green Center.