June 2025 Newsletter

EDI's Milkweed Farm is Thriving!

A major shoutout to our team, volunteer heroes, and grantors for making the EDI Milkweed Farm burst with life! Our Narrowleaf and Woollypod Milkweed are in full bloom, and we've welcomed many Monarch Butterfly visitors and their very hungry caterpillars. We planted a new plot last year which has matured beautifully and is thriving! In the shade house, young Milkweed is growing from seed collected from the farm and getting ready to support more pollinators in the near future. It's an exciting time at the farm and we are thrilled to see all of the activity!

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Community Picnic at Flinn Springs

What a swell time we had on June 14th when we gathered with East County families at Flinn Springs County Park to celebrate the end of the school year together as a community! We hiked, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, played games, and served up veggie dogs and PB&Js to the 114 attendees. We relished (and ketchup-ed and mustard-ed) every moment of it!

This program is funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services. 

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The NAT's Garden Fair

This month, we celebrated National Pollinator Week in a medley of ways. One of our favorite moments (let's face it, we loved every moment!) was participating in the San Diego Natural History Museum's second annual Garden Fair! We had a fantastic time sharing information about our work, making new connections, and engaging little ones in learning about Monarch Butterflies.

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Whale Watching? More like Dolphin Watching!

Seeing a stampede of common dolphins was dolphin-ately the highlight of our Whale Watching adventure this past month! We had 97 East County community members join us for a wonderful trip with San Diego Whale Watch. We may not have seen whales this time around but we were blown away by the HUNDREDS of common and bottlenose dolphins we saw on this ocean outing! We can't wait for the next one!

This program is funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services. 

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Kayaking to Kick Off Summer Break

We kicked off the start of summer break with a kayaking event with Chula Vista Water Sports! 36 East County community members joined us at the San Diego Bay with their loved ones to have some fun out on the water. Despite the winds, everyone had a spectacular time connecting with friends, family, and nature out on the water!

This program is funded by the Coastal Conservancy as part of the Explore the Coast grant.

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North American Monarch Summit

Ida, our Conservation Director, presented on our Monarch Butterfly Urban Waystations project (aka our Monarch Butterfly Habitat Gardens) at the North American Monarch Summit in Minneapolis! Our program focuses on creating vital habitat in San Diego's urban neighborhoods. This event brings experts from Mexico, the U.S., and Canada together to discuss what we have been doing, and what we plan to do, to protect the threatened Monarch Butterfly. Conserving a species that migrates thousands of miles across three countries requires this kind of international collaboration and we're so proud to be part of it.

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Celebrating 3 years with Simon Breen!

Simon (second from left), our Education Director and pun-extraordinaire, has been a powerhouse in expanding and enhancing the impact of our Education Department since joining the team in 2022. In 2024 alone, our engagement in East County increased by 42% and 28% for school-based lessons and family day adventures, respectively. Simon is the textbook definition of a dedicated, unstoppable force, and he embodies so much passion for opening the outdoors and creating equitable access for all people. We are so proud of everything he has accomplished in his 3 years with EDI and look forward to supporting and cheering him on in the years to come!

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Intern Wrap Up

From January to June, we were enriched with the presence of three crackerjack interns who supported our mission as they gained skills and experience. Each of them completed more than 65 hours as they learned the ins-and-outs of EDI's environmental education programming, restoration projects, and behind-the-scenes nonprofit administration endeavors. At the conclusion of their internship, we helped review and update their resumes and conducted mock-interviews with each of them to prepare them for the next chapter of their budding careers. We have no doubt they'll continue making a positive impact in the world. Here are some parting words from them as they spread their wings toward their next horizon:

“I want to thank you guys for having me, super grateful for the opportunity to support EDI’s mission. I made so many connections and learned so much!" - Brooke Penny

"It was awesome!...[The work environment] was so welcoming. No negative vibes." - Joseph Sandoval

“Thanks so much for including me in the internship program! It was a valuable experience, and I'm very grateful to have worked alongside you. Working in education was a new experience for me. The kids were really inspiring, and I enjoyed being part of the team teaching them about environmental conservation...[T]he places we explored were great and I bet they were meaningful for the kids, too. Thanks for making these programs possible! I would love to volunteer again soon and stay connected with Earth Discovery Institute.” - Andrew Bowman

The internship culminated in a stipend paid to each of the interns. This program is funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services.