Whittier Elementary students get hands dirty at fundraiser

Second- and third-graders from Whittier Elementary School in Costa Mesa got their hands dirty Tuesday at Newport Banning Ranch.

The youngsters created mud balls, a mixture of dirt, water and native plant seeds that they tossed into planters that will eventually be placed in a restoration area at Banning Ranch in Newport Beach, on the edge of Costa Mesa.

Graduate students from Cal Poly Pomona helped Tuesday in building the Newport Banning Land Trust’s 24-foot-tall California native plant nursery.

The nursery, funded partly by a $500 donation from a Huntington Beach couple, will enable the nonprofit to expand its restoration efforts, said Robyn Vettraino, executive director of the Newport Banning Land Trust.

The activity coincided with a fundraiser for nonprofits countywide presented this week by the Orange County Community Foundation. The 30-hour online fundraising event, which ended Wednesday, raised $1,025 for the Land Trust, which serves as a steward for more than 230 acres of the Banning Ranch property.

The money will go into the trust’s outdoor education programs, which give local students the opportunity for hands-on field research, Vettraino said.

“We want there to be a community that is engaged with what’s going on there,” she said.