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Earth Day is April 22, but Bernheim Forest invites the community to celebrate the beauty of the planet this Saturday with Restore: Healthy Planet, Healthy Us, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 18.
“We’re going to have a tree giveaway and plant sales,” said Bernheim Forest Director of Marketing and Communications Lynette Cox. “You can come and pick up a free native tree sapling from a horticulture team, and we’re going to be selling a variety of herbs and vegetables to get your garden ready for the season. We’ve got some fun hands-on activities for kids, including the STEAM chemist Jerald Smith. He’ll be delighting the crowd with science experiments.”
In addition to activities and play areas for kids and families, the event will include information on area plants and wildlife along with representatives from community partners.
Activities celebrating self-care for all will also be featured.
“You can take a spin on an electric bike from Pedego Electric Bikes,” Cox said. “They’re going to be on site and they’ll have their bikes here that people can ride around on. We’ll also have some drop-in yoga sessions as well, and we’re also going to honor our new Climate Heroes on that day.”
For the first time, this year’s Restore event will also feature electronics recycling.
“From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., people can bring their old stereos, old phones, VCRs, things of that nature, and get those recycled and disposed of in an environmentally friendly way,” Cox said.
All are welcome to attend this free community event. Visit www.bernheim.org or the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest Facebook page for more information.
Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland celebrated the volunteers who make the organization’s mission possible with their annual volunteer luncheon Friday, held at the Central Kentucky Community Foundation in Elizabethtown.
“This is one of my favorite days of the year,” said FAKH Executive Director Charles Dennis. “At Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland, we have a saying that ‘Food is all we do, and community is all we are,” and when I look out at this crowd, I see community, and I see different groups, and I see those that come periodically, that come weekly, and to me, that’s what community means.”
According to the organization, volunteers in 2025 packed 96,438 Commodity Supplemental Food Program boxes in support of area seniors and 117,074 Backpack Program bags to ensure students have meals on the weekends. Nearly 13,500 volunteer hours were logged at the organization’s volunteer center in Elizabethtown in 2025.
The luncheon included the presentation of the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring individuals and entities that have shown exceptional dedication to support FAKH’s mission. This year’s honorees are Parkway Baptist Church, Bani Purcell, and Tony and Gayle Shafer.
“My favorite part is the camaraderie of the other volunteers,” said Gayle Shafer. “We are a family, and if we miss a day, we have to check in. Otherwise, we get texts to say ‘Where you at? Everybody okay?’ It is a loving group and we just enjoy the volunteers and the employees.”
Learn more about Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland’s mission and opportunities to get involved at www.feedingamericaky.org.