Former volunteer donates $2.5 million estate gift to Selby Gardens

An estate gift of $2.5 million from a former Marie Selby Botanical Gardens volunteer has been put toward a new volunteer suite that will open next year. 

Evelyn Mink volunteered at the Selby Gardens’ downtown Sarasota location for 25 years. The gift came from Evelyn S. Mink Charitable Trust. In recognition, the new addition will be named the Evelyn S. Mink Volunteer Suite, which will be located in the new Plant Research Center. The suite will be home to volunteer workstations, a lounge area and the volunteer coordinator office.

“For 25 years, Mrs. Mink volunteered in our welcome center, contributing almost 5,000 hours of service to Selby Gardens over that time,” Vera Neumann-Wood, Selby Gardens’ volunteer coordinator, says in a news release. “Until very recently, you could see her driving onto the downtown Sarasota campus in her Thunderbird convertible!”

Mink volunteered for the last time in March 2020. She died in June 2021 at 101.

“Evelyn Mink’s dedicated service and generous philanthropy are an inspiration and, really, part of a legacy here at Selby Gardens,” Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO, says in the release. “Both of our campuses were established by forward-thinking women of their time, whose influence continues to enrich our community many decades later. When volunteers see Mrs. Mink’s name on their dedicated space in our new facilities, they’ll know she was a special woman who made Selby Gardens an even better place for those who came after her.”

With the gift, the organization has raised over $53 million for its master plan — a $92 million project that includes new environmental features as well as aspects like new classroom spaces. 

The first phase will add a plant research center, an herbarium, a new welcome center and a research library. Phase two will feature a hurricane-resilient greenhouse complex, a learning pavilion, and indoor and outdoor classroom space. The last phase will restore two of the campus’s historic buildings, unify the gardens’ walking paths and bolster the property’s seawalls and dockage. 

The project also includes plans for a 50,000-square-foot solar array on the roof and an underground stormwater vault. Of the money its raised, only about $49 million is earmarked for the first phase. There’s still about $2.6 million left to raise, which the organization plans to do through a Capping Challenge set up by several Selby Gardens supporters, which matches every gift until the goal has been met. 

Selby Gardens is stretched across 45 acres on both the Downtown Sarasota and Historic Spanish Point campuses.