With any luck, Thatcher Woods in River Forest will soon support more spring wildflowers, oak saplings, butterflies, salamanders and woodpeckers thanks to Maeve Mascarenhas of Forest Park and Carl Faust of River Forest, both 11. The philanthropist pair wrote a check for $775 to the Forest Preserve Foundation for the purchase of equipment to be used for habitat restoration work at Thatcher, one of their favorite preserves.

The pair raised the money over the holiday season, selling 129 five-packs of handmade cards featuring their own nature photography to family, friends and community members. That’s a lot of cards! The Forest Preserves thanks Maeve and Carl for supporting the critical restoration of local native ecosystems.