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FRIENDS OF TUCSON'S BIRTHPLACE

TUCSON, AZ · EIN 271326401 · Form 990 · FY2022 · NTEE A80 · Arts, Culture & Humanities · Small ($100K-$1M) · www.missiongarden.org
revenue
$487K
expenses
$505K
net assets
$363K
employees
8
volunteers
297
program ratio
84%
mission · from form 990

TO PRESERVE, HONOR, PROTECT, RESTORE AND PROMOTE THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF TUCSON'S BIRTHPLACE.

profile · synthesized from sources

FRIENDS OF TUCSON'S BIRTHPLACE operates Mission Garden, a historic agricultural site in Tucson, Arizona, offering educational workshops and classes focused on local flora, traditional agriculture, and cultural heritage. The organization serves the local community by promoting sustainable practices and preserving the region's agricultural history.

named programs · 1 · from sources

what they call their work

Workshops and Classes
Offers a variety of workshops and classes focused on local plants, traditional agriculture, and culinary practices, including bird walks, herbal walks, and cooking classes.
activities · 6 groups

what they do

  • Heritage Crop Cultivation & Agricultural Heritage Preservation 8 activities
    • Cultivate specific heritage crops in culturally significant gardens
      Grows traditional crops such as Tohono O’odham 60-day corn, Ha:l squash, teparies, and yellow O’odham melon in the Pre-Contact O’odham Garden, reflecting Indigenous agricultural practices.
    • Maintain living agricultural museum with heritage and native plant collections
      Operates a 4-acre living agricultural museum showcasing Sonoran Desert-adapted heritage fruit trees, traditional heirloom crops, and edible native plants. The site has been continuously farmed for thousands of years and includes culturally specific garden plots such as Hohokam, O’odham, Spanish, Mexican, Chinese, Yoeme, African in the Americas, and medicinal plants.
    • Maintaining Specialized Garden Plots
      Maintains various specialized garden plots within Mission Garden, including the Moore Medicinal Garden with 50 native Southwest desert medicinal plants, an "Africa in the Americas" garden, and a Chinese Garden, and cultivates heritage crops like Tohono O’odham 60-day corn, Ha:l squash, teparies, and yellow O’odham melon in the Pre-Contact O’odham Garden.
    • Maintaining Specialized Garden Plots
      Maintains various specialized garden plots within Mission Garden, including the Moore Medicinal Garden with 50 native medicinal plants, an "Africa in the Americas" garden, and a Chinese Garden, cultivating heritage crops and telling the stories of diverse agricultural traditions.
    • Offer free admission with voluntary donations
      Provides free admission to Mission Garden while accepting voluntary donations to support operations.
    • Operating Mission Garden
      Operates Mission Garden as a living agricultural museum and public garden, showcasing Sonoran Desert-adapted heritage fruit trees, traditional local heirloom crops, and edible native plants. The garden is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, with free admission and extended hours during cooler months.
    • Operating Mission Garden
      Operates Mission Garden as a living agricultural museum and botanical garden, showcasing Sonoran Desert-adapted heritage fruit trees, traditional local heirloom crops, and edible native plants. The garden is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, with extended hours during cooler months, and offers free admission with voluntary donations accepted.
    • Support cultural storytelling through specialized gardening groups
      Maintains the Chinese Gardening Group to preserve and share the history of Chinese farmers in the region, including their plant varieties and farming methods. Developed and inaugurated an "Africa in the Americas" garden to represent African diasporic agricultural traditions.
  • Desert Foodways Revitalization Programs 6 activities
    • Contribute expertise to media and public outreach
      Provided expertise and footage for an episode of the television show "Top Chef" to promote awareness of heritage agriculture and traditional foodways.
    • Cultural Events and Festivals
      Hosts a speaker series featuring Indigenous leaders discussing traditional agricultural practices, organizes a cultural tour to Oaxaca, Mexico, celebrates the wheat harvest through the San Ysidro Festival, and hosts Archaeology Day events with hands-on activities.
    • Cultural Events and Speaker Series
      Hosts a speaker series featuring Indigenous leaders discussing traditional agricultural practices and foodways, celebrates the wheat harvest through the San Ysidro Festival, and organizes Archaeology Day events with hands-on activities.
    • Host speaker series on Indigenous agricultural practices
      Hosts a speaker series featuring six Indigenous leaders who discuss reclaiming traditional agricultural practices and foodways.
    • Promoting Local Agriculture and Culinary Arts
      Prepares and shares produce through various culinary activities to promote local agriculture and contributed expertise and footage for an episode of the television show "Top Chef."
    • Promoting Local Agriculture and Culinary Arts
      Prepares and shares produce through various culinary activities to promote local agriculture and has contributed expertise and footage for television shows like "Top Chef."
  • Visitor-Facing Educational Retail Operations 3 activities
    • Garden Shop Operations
      Operates a Garden Shop that includes an Exhibit Room with historic photos and artifacts, and sells products made in the garden (jams, jellies, dried herbs), heritage plants (fruit trees, grape vines, vegetables, herbs), fresh eggs, books on local agriculture, art from local artists, and apparel with the Mission Garden logo.
    • Garden Shop Operations
      Operates a Garden Shop that includes an Exhibit Room displaying historic photos and artifacts, and sells products made in the garden (jams, jellies, dried herbs), heritage plants, fresh eggs, books, local art, and apparel.
    • Operate Garden Shop with garden-grown and locally made products
      Sells products grown or made in the garden, including fresh eggs, jams, jellies, marmalades, dried herbs, heritage fruit trees, grape vines, vegetables, and herbs. Also sells books on local agriculture and history, greeting cards and art by local artists, and Mission Garden-branded apparel.
  • Nature-Based Environmental Education Programs 2 activities
    • Conduct guided educational walks (bird and herb)
      Leads bird walks with expert birders to identify seasonal and resident birds and learn their calls and songs. Offers Healing Herb Walks in the Michael Moore Medicinal Garden to teach about native Southwest Desert herbs and their use in herbal medicine.
    • Guided Tours and Walks
      Conducts school tours during public operating hours, offering funding for transportation costs for Title One schools in Tucson, and leads "Healing Herb Walks" in the Michael Moore Medicinal Garden and bird walks led by expert birders.
  • Cultural Tours Aligned with Local Festivals 2 activities
    • Cultural Tours to Oaxaca, Mexico
      Organizes a 7-day cultural tour to Oaxaca, Mexico, which includes visits to botanical gardens, archaeological sites, nature reserves, museums, markets, and workshops.
    • Lead cultural and ecological tours and special events
      Organizes a 7-day cultural tour to Oaxaca, Mexico, including visits to botanical gardens, archaeological sites, nature reserves, museums, markets, and workshops. Hosts special events such as the San Ysidro Festival for wheat harvest celebration and Archaeology Day with hands-on activities for all ages.
  • Uncategorized 6 activities
    • Educational Workshops and Classes
      Offers free and low-cost in-person and recorded video workshops and classes on topics such as identifying and preparing palo verde species, fig varieties and culinary uses, making hydrosols, agave fiber extraction, traditional O’odham agriculture, making herbal healing salves, and tree care and planting for heritage fruit trees.
    • Educational Workshops and Classes
      Offers free and low-cost in-person and recorded video workshops and classes on topics such as identifying and preparing local plants, making hydrosols, herbal healing salves, agave fiber extraction, traditional O'odham agriculture, and tree care and planting.
    • Guided Tours and Walks
      Conducts school tours during public operating hours, offering funding for transportation costs for Title One schools, and leads specialized walks such as "Healing Herb Walks" and bird walks in Mission Garden.
    • Host educational workshops and classes (in-person and recorded)
      Offers free and low-cost in-person workshops and recorded video classes on topics including fig cultivation, palo verde harvesting, hydrosol making, agave fiber extraction, O’odham agricultural techniques, herbal salve creation, and tree care. Also provides recorded video workshops for at-home learning.
    • Maintain exhibit and educational content spaces
      Operates an Exhibit Room in the Garden Shop displaying historic photos, artifacts, and informational displays. Provides illustrated stories about timeline plots, special features, and an encyclopedia of plants for visitor education.
    • Operate public visiting hours and school tours at Mission Garden
      Hosts the public Wednesday through Sunday with seasonal hours (8am–2pm October–March, 8am–12pm April–September), including school tours during these times. Offers transportation funding for Title One schools within Tucson to visit the garden.
financials · form 990 · fy2022
revenue
Total revenue$487K
Contributions & grants$327K67%
Program service revenue$91K19%
Investment income$2K0%
Other revenue$67K
expenses
Total expenses$505K
Program expenses84%
Admin / overhead7%
Fundraising10%
Salaries & benefits$334K
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$368K
Cash$368K
Investments$0
Liabilities$4K
Net assets$363K
Liquid reserves8.7 mo
2 years on record · 2020–2022 · YoY revenue +8.7%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2022

who runs it

paid leadership · 1
NameTitleHours/wkCompensation
JULIE ROBINSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 40 $68K
board members · 9
  • BILL DUPONT — BOARDMEMBER
  • CHUCK GRAF — BOARDMEMBER
  • DIANA HADLEY — SECRETARY
  • FE TOM — BOARDMEMBER
  • JESUS GARCIA — VICE PRESIDENT
  • KATYA PETERSON — BOARDMEMBER
  • PIERRE LANDAU — TREASURER
  • ROBERT FLEMING — PRESIDENT
  • ROGER PFEUFFER — BOARDMEMBER
relationships · 8

who they work with

  • Archaeology Southwest Partner — Archaeology Southwest's Hands-on Archaeology program is featured at Archaeology Day events.
  • Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Partner — Jesús García, Conservation Research Associate at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, teaches an Agave Fiber Workshop.
  • Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace Partner — Collaborates to describe the mission, vision, values, and structure of the organization.
  • KXCI Community Radio Partner — Hosted Maegan Lopez, Mission Garden Gardener and Cultural Outreach Liaison, on their show "Cultivating Indigenous Voices."
  • Kelly Bell Partner — Local herbalist who helps plant and maintain the Moore Medicinal Garden and leads Healing Herb Walks.
  • Mission Garden Partner — Organizes a cultural tour to Oaxaca to benefit Mission Garden.
  • Old Pueblo Archaeology Partner — Old Pueblo Archaeology helps people learn pottery, rock art, and other skills during Archaeology Day.
  • Top Chef Partner — Mission Garden was chosen as a filming location for an episode of the show.