For more than 20 years, St. Louis-based Wells Fargo Advisors has been a generous donor to Forest Park Forever, supporting initiatives ranging from the first major campaign to restore the Park to events like the annual Hat Luncheon and Fall Family FunFest. As our conservancy has grown, so has their support.
Forest Park Forever is thrilled to announce that Wells Fargo Advisors has made a $250,000 gift to the Forever campaign. We recently spoke with David Kowach, head of Wells Fargo Advisors, about this gift and the company’s longtime support of the Park. Here is what he shared:
The Company’s Philanthropic Vision
We want every community in which we do business to be better off because we’re there. We have more than 6,000 team members living in the St. Louis area. We love this city. We want our investments to address critical needs while also supporting cultural gems like Forest Park.
Forest Park for the Community
Beyond providing green space and beauty, a thriving Forest Park builds on our sense of community and strengthens our connections with each other. I see this play out every weekend when I watch my two daughters on the playground. Children from across the city are there interacting, making new sets of friends. At festivals, on Art Hill and at the sports fields, you see people from all economic and ethnic backgrounds enjoying something that’s uniquely St. Louis. Forest Park unites us as a city. It belongs to everyone.
An Asset for Business
Forest Park’s size and reputation give the business community and the region something to brag about. The architecture and sweeping landscape are breathtaking. For good reason, Forest Park is where we take recruits who are considering a move to St. Louis. It’s a point of pride to our firm.
A Resource for 6,000 Employees
I know people at our firm who became marathon runners by training on the outer trail, who got married at the Jewel Box, and who popped the question at Steinberg Skating Rink. Just the other day, a colleague talked about spotting a horned owl in Kennedy Forest!
Investing for the Future
Future generations of St. Louisans need Forest Park as much as we do. It’s critical to our economic growth and collective health.
For my family, personally, Forest Park is part of our daily lives. We bike on the trails. We’re regulars at the Muny, the Zoo and the Science Center. When my daughters have families of their own, I want them to be able to watch beauty of the Park as it changes with the seasons, and make the kind of memories my wife and I are making with them.
Investing in the Forever capital campaign is an investment in this city’s future. We need to do all that we can to leave Forest Park better than how we’ve found it, and to ensure it forever remains the jewel that it is today.
“As someone who fell in love with Forest Park soon after my wife and I moved to St. Louis in 2007, I know the vast greenspace and cultural institutions aren’t enough to make it a great park. The people who fill the Park every day are who make it great.”