Help the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County provide healthy habitats for native plants and animals and inspiring places for visitors by participating in “A Night for Nature” on Thursday, Sept. 12, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at St. James Farm in Warrenville.

Hosted by the Forest Preserve District and its nonprofit partner the Friends of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, the fundraiser’s goal is to raise $50,000 for habitat restoration and native wildlife in forest preserves where people connect to nature.

The evening includes fellowship; food and drinks; live music by Anderlik, Roach & Church; and wagon rides through the forest preserve. Tickets, which are $100 per person for the 21-and-older event, can be purchased at dupageforest.org/friends. “A Night for Nature” also features a silent auction where guests can bid on donated products and services from local businesses and new, unique forest preserve experiences, some for individuals and some for small groups, including the following:

• A rehabilitated native wild animal release with a wildlife interpreter from the new DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center in Glen Ellyn
• A tour of the Urban Stream Research Center at Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville with a “Mussel Matters” watch party and popcorn
• A woodland bird walk with a local birding expert at a DuPage forest preserve, accompanied by coffee and donuts
• A native garden design experience with a native plant expert at The Preserve at Oak Meadows in Addison, accompanied by a cocktail and appetizer
• A two-hour ride-along experience with a Forest Preserve District ranger to discover some of our favorite spots in the forest preserves
• A two-hour session with a Forest Preserve District ecologist to watch a working team from the Conservation Dogs Collective search for rare bumblebee nests at a forest preserve, including time to talk to the handler and meet her specially trained dog
• An ice cream making experience at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago
• Golf packages at DuPage golf preserves including one hour of personal instruction by a Forest Preserve District PGA staff member and one 18-hole round of golf for four with carts at The Preserve at Oak Meadows; one 18-hole round of golf for four with carts at Maple Meadows; and one 9-hole round for four with carts at Green Meadows
• A native pollinator kit containing 100 native plants to attract birds, butterflies, and other pollinators to your garden
• A four-hour hiking and nature excursion with a picnic shelter or meeting space at Fullersburg Woods

Friends board chair and DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center volunteer Bob Watt said the nonprofit's board and staff continue to work together to raise awareness in the community. "The relationships we form with community partners and individual donors demonstrate the value of healthy natural areas to DuPage County's residents," he said. "We're also working to ensure that tomorrow's generation will be able to visit the forest preserves to experience the same plants and animals that bring us joy today."

Forest Preserve District president Daniel Hebreard expressed his appreciation for the Friends’ ongoing fundraising efforts when he said, “We appreciate the Friends' support of the Forest Preserve District's work to restore habitats and protect wildlife in DuPage forest preserves.”

The Friends of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County thanks its benefit sponsors, Cattaneo Electric; Ferrari Plumbing, Inc.; Montano’s Landscaping; and V3 Companies. It also thanks its community partners: G. Carl Ball Family Foundation; Robert & Toni Bader Charitable Foundation, Inc.; BNSF Railway Foundation; Chicago Region Trees Initiative; ComEd/Exelon; The Conservation Foundation; CNH Industrial Foundation; Mary J. Demmon Private Foundation; Domtar; Edward Jones — Financial Advisor: Mike Dyer; DuPage Foundation; Ecolab Foundation; Fidelity Charitable; Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation; Molex; Navistar, Inc.; Nicor; nora fleming; Republic Bank; Schwab Charitable; Stantec; Target; TC Energy; and Wheaton Bank & Trust.