Children's Grove

At Children's Grove, we believe a single act of kindness can change a life forever.

Children’s Grove was founded in response to the tragic 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Inspired by a desire to foster peace and healing, concerned citizens came together to create a public symbol of hope—a place that reflects our community’s commitment to the well-being of children everywhere. As a result, a beautiful grove of butterfly magnolia trees was planted in the northeast corner of Stephens Lake Park in Columbia, Missouri in 2014. Over the past year, we have celebrated more than 10 years of programming and initiatives.

What began as a heartfelt gesture quickly grew into a movement. Our all-volunteer organization has worked to encourage all individuals and groups to reach out with acts of kindness and to provide resources for the mental health of the children in our community and their families.  We are grateful for our donors, who have allowed us to pursue initiatives including planting more kindness trees, installing public murals and kindness benches, working in Boone County schools at all levels to set up Kindness Clubs and Kindness Ambassadors programs, and purchasing and delivering Kindness Libraries to preschools and elementary schools.

CoMoGives is our major fundraising event of the year. All the proceeds we receive from this campaign will directly impact our many projects and initiatives throughout Boone County.

Board of Directors

Sarah Greenlee, President

Emily Arth

Tiffany Bowman

Iris Calloway

Susan Currier

Mary Druce

Kim Dude-Lammy

Rob Fleming

Susan Heinsz

Jim Hogan

Barbra Horrell

Lorah Lackland

Pete Millier

Joyce Smith

Judy Snyder