Lansing’s Ebersole Center receives 80-acre land gift worth $1 million

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - The Lansing School District’s Ebersole Center in Wayland is set to almost double in size after the donation of an 80-acre parcel of land adjacent to the existing center.

The school district announced Thursday that the Ebersole Foundation has donated farmland adjacent to the center, worth roughly $1 million.

The Ebersole Center is used for overnight or weekend-long education programs and features classrooms, a cafeteria, a conference center and accommodations for up to 120 students in a dorm-like setting.

“The farm is set up in a way that the current existing Ebersole Center property isn’t,” said Ebersole Center director Benjamin Botwinski. “It’s going to allow us to diversify our programming to talk about things like agriculture science, land management, land-to-hand food management, biotech - it’s going to provide a ton of new opportunities for kids.”

Ebersole Foundation Chair Donna Old said about 400 people across Mid-Michigan had helped raise the funds needed to buy the land.

“Special recognition should be given to the Dart Foundation, along with Kellie and Marylin Dean for their leadership gifts,” Old said.

“On behalf of the Lansing School District, our Board of Education and the Ebersole Education Center staff, I want to sincerely thank the Ebersole Foundation for this incredible, generous gift that will reshape our environmental education program at the Ebersole Center for generations to come,” said Superintendent Ben Shuldiner.

The Ebersole Environmental Education Center was founded in the 1970s as a campground. It aims to empower people to connect with nature through education and recreation.

More information can be found on its official website.

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