12/31/2022
Happy Holidays, Friends! And an even Happier New Year.
A remark on 2022 to close out this year:
Dear Friend,
Thank you for your interest in supporting the Salt Lake City Cemetery. The Friends of the Salt Lake City Cemetery (FOC), an all-volunteer non-profit organization founded in 2020, share in your care and concerns about this historic, cultural and environmental treasure.
2022 was a benchmark year for the Friends Organization and we’d like to share with you the progress we made during this year. The Friends group supports the Cemetery in three main areas – 1. community engagement, 2. advocating on behalf of the Cemetery and 3. fund raising.
1. Community Engagement
By far our most popular Community Engagement activity is the annual post- Memorial Day Clean-up. Each year visitors place potted plants, flowers, and other tributes around the graves of their loved ones. Once the flowers and plants have died they must be removed. This year we had almost 200 volunteers help clean up, recycle plastic and compost green materials. Seven tons of green waste and two tons of plastic was diverted from the landfill through these efforts.
The Mark Smith Arboretum was dedicated in November of 2021, recognizing the Cemetery’s value as a precious urban forest. This year, the FOC held two tree-planting events in collaboration with Tree Utah and the City’s Urban Forestry team. These new plantings added to the inventory of different species in the Arboretum and will eventually help to replace the trees lost in the 2020 windstorm.
The FOC also organized several educational programs; including multiple cemetery tours, one in partnership with KUED, and a popular workshop on headstone repair and refurbishment, led by a nationally recognized expert and open to the public.
These community activities help increase the public’s awareness of the Cemetery’s unique historical, cultural, and environmental value. If you haven’t participated in one of our community engagement activities before, please consider joining us. You can check our website (https://slc-avenues.org/friends-slc-cemetery )for more information.
2. Advocacy
The FOC supported Salt Lake City’s request for funding from the State Legislature to repair, enhance, or replace infrastructure, such as badly damaged roads and inadequate and inefficient irrigation and watering systems. FOC Board Member Carlton Christensen spoke at the Business, Economic Development, and Labor Appropriations Subcommittee hearing with the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Todd Weiler. We are grateful to the many of you that sent texts, emails, or phone calls to their legislators. The subcommittee recommended funding, but ultimately, it was not included in the final budget.
However, there’s always next year! In October, we collaborated with the City to conduct a Legislative tour day to educate key legislators about the Cemetery’s role in the State’s history, as well as highlight its current dire needs. We are hopeful that the request will be considered and funded during the 2023 legislative session.
FOC also advocated for the Cemetery at the City level. The Mayor’s budget recommended funding for the Cemetery through a Sales Tax Bond. We spoke at City Council meetings in favor of this funding, as well as in support of a Capital Improvement Project. It is wonderful news that Salt Lake City budgeted $11 million to help repair infrastructure in the Cemetery, including roads and irrigation systems.
3. Fund Raising
In the spring of 2022, the Friends was formally designated as a 501c3 non-profit organization, allowing us to accept donations that can be tax deductible. We were awarded with a very generous grant that allows us to fund our activities through next year, including soliciting and accepting gifts that can flow directly to the Cemetery needs. We had our first pass-through donation this fall and will plan for more campaigns next year.
And finally, FOC has adopted a strategic plan to establish and guide it toward accomplishment of its goals. We are very interested in growing the diversity and depth of expertise in our organization and are seeking volunteers with a background and interest in grant research and writing, and communication and public outreach. Most urgently, our excellent Treasurer, who has guided the organization through its start-up phase, is ready to step aside and we are eager to fill this important position. If you or someone you know are interested, please contact us at [email protected].
-Dave Alderman (President, Friends of the Salt Lake City Cemetery)
