VISIT US THIS SUMMER: 

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 10:00 -2:00

Walk the Trail and Explore the Sustainable Education Center 

*See our Events Tab for the full view of our upcoming season's events

FRONT GARDEN PLANTED!  

On Saturday over 20 Boyscouts and Nassau Community College students transformed the look of the Education Center by removing weeds around it and replacing them with natives.   

Thank you to all who came out, especially to Eagle Scout Candidate Scott Henneberger and his family as well as the South Shore Audubon Society who granted funds for restoring habitat with native plants.  

THE FRANCIS T. PURCELL PRESERVE: THANK YOU TO ALL WHO CAME OUT TO CLEAN UP!

The project continues.  Stay tuned for the next clean-up date! For more inofrmation email info@friendsofhp.org.  

Check out the Purcell Preserve: Google Map

The Francis Purcell Cleanup is part of an ongoing mission of the 501 (c) 3 organization, known as the Friends of Hempstead Plains, or FHP.  FHP brings together people who have an interest in examining the changing ecosystem on which society relies by learning about it, sharing the positive attributes that Nature provides, and preserving its valuable elements to experience now, next season, and for future generations.

Government leadership has been key to the effort.  The latest Environmental Citizen Stewards are County Executive Laura Curran and her staff in the Public Works and Parks Department.  They’ve fixed the lighting outside the preserve, provided resources to the FHP Education and Research Center, and are providing significant support toward cleaning up this preserve for public enjoyment.  Through exciting public-private partnerships, FHP is happy to play a role in the development of the Hub region, with an eye toward sharing the pristine beauty of this grassland prairie with more people.

For the young people who are growing up with new vitality and enthusiasm, FHP has designed the Education Center to integrate seven major themes in a real world setting: Society, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, and Science, or STREAMS.
Many today are rallying for a greater good, and FHP gives people an outlet in their own backyard.  We’ve had a steady stream of boy and girl scouts, college volunteers, as well as alumni groups and families, donating their passion to this effort, and we greatly appreciate everyone who finds us and helps out.  We are especially excited by our partners in the business community, Flushing Bank and the Marriott Hotel, as well as numerous other firms that donate products, services and their time to this mission.

FHP also offers educational services to schools, libraries, and just about any group that shows interest.  These include field trips, in-class speakers, displays, special events, research projects and fundraisers.  One group we particularly enjoy is the class that comes from The BOCES Center for Community Adjustment.  Their spirit of discovery about nature and how it affects society invigorates our mission every week.

One of their favorite days is when we let them test-drive a drone.  Let’s be candid – any day flying drones is a fun day.  We gather data about the preserves in an efficient manner on a regular basis that helps us see the results of our efforts and which goes into our ESRI ARCGIS mapping system.  It is the truth of today’s world: every square foot of the earth is managed by humans in one form or another, and we take that responsibility seriously.  We hope to be offering additional opportunities during the summer for people to become part of our drone team to see for themselves how it’s done, and to play an active role in carrying out our management plan.

The cleanup of the Francis T. Purcell Preserve is another great day for FHP that brings the community out to enjoy nature and to show with their personal effort their commitment to a bright and healthy future for adults, children and grandchildren.  THANK YOU!

Newsday Story About This Event!  by Angelique D'Alessandro

Newsday Story by William Murphy about Carole Neidich-Ryder: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/passion-for-prairie-grass-preservation-1.7576299

Dedication Story: http://liherald.com/stories/Purcells-parkPreserve-dedicated-to-former-county-executive-and-Malverne-mayor,12212?

Francis T. Purcell Obituary Anouncement: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/nyregion/francis-t-purcell-three-term-nassau-county-executive-dies-at-95.html

For information: email info@friendsofhp.org.

Friends of Hempstead Plains wishes to thank all of you who participated in "Giving Tuesday" by making a donation to the Friends.  Your help will enable us to increase our habitat protection and restoration of this special prairie habitat. 

The Story Behind The Hempstead Plains Education and Research Center

Facebook and Instagram

Photo (and Video) Postings

Please use the hash tag:  #HempsteadPlainsESD2018

  Friends of Hempstead Plains at Nassau Community College (FHP) has established and adopted an Equal Employment Opportunity Employment policy (“EEO”). The purpose of this EEO policy is to ensure that all employment and contract decisions are made on a non-discriminatory basis, and without regard to sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity/reassignment, citizenship, pregnancy or maternity, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state or local law.

UPCOMING EVENTS: SPRING 2018