High School volunteers to restore habitat in Santa Ana on Dec. 28

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Contact: Reginald Durant, Executive Director, Back to Natives Restoration, (949) 509-4787

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH BACK TO NATIVES AT SANTIAGO CREEK NATURE RESERVE IN SANTA ANA

SANTA ANA, Calif., December 17, 2013 – Back to Natives Restoration, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public charity and at least 50 community volunteers will restore habitat at Santiago Creek Nature Reserve in Santa Ana on Saturday, December 28 from 9AM to 12PM. Volunteers will remove non-native invasive weeds and plant native plants in and around Santiago Creek.

Volunteers will come from:

•Bolsa Grande High School Key Club
•Garden Grove HS Red Cross Club
•La Quinta High School KIWINS
•Los Amigos High School Key Club
•Orange County School of the Arts National Honors Society
•Orange HS Environmental Club
•Santiago HS Environmental Club

“Volunteer events like this one are a great way for anyone – regardless of age, location or resources – to take on the problems they see in their community,” said Back to Natives Director of Restoration Reginald Durant. “BTN volunteer events are special because volunteers learn while they are having fun and helping the environment. Volunteers discover that they play a direct role in the health of local natural areas. They discover that they can make a difference.”

Volunteer events are scheduled regularly at Santiago Park Nature Reserve through the end of the 2014 school year, thanks to funding from Pacific Life Foundation, REI, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Wells Fargo, the Orange County Community Foundation, Ralphs, and Project Learning Tree.

Back to Natives strives to involve the community in the process of ecological restoration and conservation because it believes that a little “ecological enlightenment” and a chance to “get your hands dirty” is the best way to improve relations between people and nature.

About Back to Natives

Back to Natives Restoration, a 501(c)(3) non profit organization, is dedicated to the restoration and conservation of Orange County and California wildlands, though education and restoration programs featuring native plants as a centralizing theme. For more information, please visit www.backtonatives.org or call 949-509-4787.

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