The Friends of Manito

The Friends of Manito (TFM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports Spokane’s Manito Park., considered the 24th most beautiful park in the United States (by Tripadvisor in 2014). The Friends of Manito was founded in 1990 to conduct fundraising, volunteer, and educational activities to support the responsible preservation and improvement of the park in cooperation with the City of Spokane and its surrounding community.

Our active membership supports this mission through donations and by volunteering time and energy to key fundraising events, such as the twice-annual Plant Sale. TFM supports its members through educational programs and events to further promote the community’s use and enjoyment of Manito Park.

Volunteering is the backbone of The Friends of Manito. It’s the volunteers who show up at the park two mornings a week to nurture the little seedlings we receive for the Plant Sales, and it’s the volunteers, many of them expert gardeners, who provide help and advice you when you come to buy them. We have scores of members who have been faithfully volunteering with TFM for many years. It’s a great way to help the park, learn about growing perennials, and make friends with a great bunch of people.

The member-elected Board of Directors of The Friends of Manito collaborates with the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department through agreements that define the roles of each party and describe how the organization and the city work together on supporting and developing projects in Manito Park. If you would like to know more about how TFM is organized and governed, you can find these documents in the links at the bottom of this page

Thanks to the generosity and support of our members, The Friends of Manito have donated over $940,000 to help fund projects in the park, such as the restoration of Mirror Pond, and the magnificent Holiday Lights in the Gaiser Conservatory.

Plant Sale

Our key fundraising event is the hugely popular Plant Sale, which is held twice yearly in the park, attracting over 4,800 enthusiastic buyers. Besides the plant sales, TFM has a presence at Garden Expo in early May.

Volunteering

The Plant Sales are staffed by an army of TFM volunteers who begin their work months in advance by helping to grow the plants, and later by setting up and staffing the event. Click the Volunteering tab to sign up, new volunteers are always welcome. Also submit your photos of the park to be used for the 2021 Manito calendar.

Membership Besides volunteering, TFM is supported by a loyal group of members who make annual donations, as well as specific donations for funded projects. Your yearly donation entitles you to a discount at the plant sales and at local merchants, a quarterly newsletter, and voting rights for TFM board members and other initiatives. There are now over 900 of us, and that number keeps growing every year. See the Membership menu item for more information.

Donate

To further support Manito Park, make a donation today. Donations may be made to honor a loved one, celebrate a special occasion, or to support a specific garden.

Click here to learn more about donation options.

Community

The Friends of Manito provides opportunities for other institutions and businesses to participate in the thoughtful preservation of Manito Park. All of these are described in the Community tab.

News

The News section shows current events that affect Manito Park and TFM members. It also showcases the projects we have sponsored over our 30 years of existence. This section has details about our involvement with Mirror Pond and gives some history of the park.

Education

We sponsor lectures about once a month on topics of interest to the community, many of them are about gardening. These are free to the public and are sponsored by local businesses. The Education tab summarizes these and provides details of how to sign up.

Starting this summer, we are also planning to offer educational activities for youth in the park. Details about these activities will be posted soon in this section, so keep checking back.

Calendar

The Calendar tab provides a calendar of TFM events including all the volunteer sessions, the plant sales, the Saturday lectures, a yearly membership meeting and details about our Open House and the Holiday Lights show put on in conjunction with the park staff.