Duke University Photography

As part of the $30 million Garden Gateway Capital Campaign at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, donors now have a unique opportunity to double the impact of their gifts.

To help Duke Gardens reach its goal, donors Marty and Jeff Gendell ’81, P ’16, P ’19, P ’20 and Ellen ’62 and Rex Adams ’62, P ’97, GP ’21 teamed up to create the Gendell Family and Adams Family Garden Gateway Matching Challenge. Unrestricted gifts to the Garden Gateway campaign, starting at $25,000 and up to $100,000, are matched dollar for dollar by the challenge.

Successful completion of the challenge will allow work to begin sooner on spaces that will more readily welcome home alumni visitors, lead to special student experiences, create meaningful interactions between community members and strengthen ties between Duke and the Durham community in a significant way. These spaces include a visitor entry pavilion featuring a lobby, café and gift shop; an events lawn; an enlarged events hall; additional classrooms; and much more.

Duke Gardens is much more than Durham’s No. 1 tourist attraction or a botanic garden in the heart of Duke University. It makes lasting impressions on people’s lives through the connections it facilitates and the impact it has on Duke and Durham. Duke Gardens enables unique research opportunities for students. It provides a vehicle for education that benefits Duke students and area schoolchildren alike. It encourages lifelong learners to apply their knowledge to real-life situations. It provides a respite for individuals from all communities and backgrounds. Duke Gardens enriches the lives of so many throughout the Duke and Durham communities, as well as visitors from around the world.

“I know from walking on its winding paths that Duke Gardens is one of our greatest assets as a university: it offers a physical connection with nature and the environment that enriches the lives of Duke students, faculty, staff, and our neighbors,” says President Vincent E. Price. “The Garden Gateway will make this special place an even more vital part of our community, with beautiful spaces for us to gather, work, relax, and celebrate.”

As the Garden Gateway Capital Campaign progresses toward the halfway mark of its $30 million goal, now is the time for donors to get involved with this exciting project that will elevate Duke Gardens to the high standard of Duke’s ever-growing reputation. By participating in the challenge and supporting the Garden Gateway campaign, donors can be a part of once-in-a-lifetime improvements at Duke Gardens that benefit the university, the community and anyone who sets foot inside this world-class botanical showplace.