Launch of Awareness Garden Expansion Provides Opportunity for Lynchburg Community to Rally Behind Those Affected by Cancer

One of Lynchburg’s Best Kept Secrets

Standing near the west end of Lynchburg’s iconic Blackwater Creek Trail is Awareness Garden, a scenic area where those enjoying the outdoors can take some time to rest and enjoy the tranquility of the outdoors but can also be encouraged and inspired to provide support, healing, and greater awareness as a community for those who are victims of or directly affected by cancer.

First established in 2003, the Awareness Garden was inspired by the life of Lalla Handcock Sydnor, an avid gardener, passionate cancer advocate, and lifelong Lynchburg resident, according to the organization’s website. The garden’s mission reads, “To provide and maintain a peaceful place to reflect, honor and support
those affected by cancer while raising awareness in our community”.

The garden’s current location has been described as “both a blessing and a challenge as many guests and visitors to the Blackwater Creek Trail can access the garden, but many have no idea that the garden is its own separate entity, dedicated to galvanizing the community in its ongoing fight against cancer. In the weeks to come, Shep Nowlin, Sue Thornton along with the rest of a dedicated Awareness Garden team hope to change that perception.

Time Brings Change, & With it the Need for Expansion & Growth

As a part of the garden’s significance to the community as well as drawing more attention to its message of driving increased support and awareness for those affected by cancer, the garden’s committee plans on launching a public capital campaign that will aim not only to expand the size of the garden but will also address one of the biggest infrastructure challenges of the immediate area, access to parking. Those who frequently visit both the Blackwater Creek Trail and the Awareness Garden know just how difficult it can be to find a place to park. Thankfully, as a part of a partnership with the City of Lynchburg, the Awareness Garden team plans to help build a new parking lot adjacent to Langhorne Rd which will offer 38 new spaces. The team behind the project is optimistic that the parking lot will go out for bid soon, with groundbreaking sometime later in the summer.

The project also calls for three new entrances which will connect the enlarged parking lot to the newly expanded garden, including one of which will be a grand entrance to the garden’s main courtyard. Taking advantage of the region’s unique topography, the expanded garden will give guests and visitors stunning new views of the original Garden and the surrounding region from multiple new overlook areas. The committee has been quietly fundraising for the project since March of 2024, diligently working to get all the pieces ready for the public portion of the campaign which they are actively planning to announce in May. The launch of the project also comes as the garden recently celebrated its 20^th anniversary in 2023.

Community Outreach Impact & Potential Vision

Nowlin who is heading up the campaign and who plans to publicly announce the key details of the project at an upcoming event on May 14th, credited the City of Lynchburg for already committing $250,000 towards the parking lot and shared with the Agenda his appreciation that a majority of city council members supported the funding of the parking lot project.  The expansion aims to double the current square footage of the garden, as well as transform some of the currently existing structures, such as covered areas and full pavilions that can hold events, and a series of four overlooks that will utilize the region’s unique natural topography to give guests an expansive view of the expanded garden, as well as providing formalized entryways into the Awareness Garden.

In addition to infrastructure goals such as expanding and providing additional garden space, Nowlin has discussed the garden committee’s focus on community outreach and involvement as a key component of the campaign. As a program designed to help students whose lives have been impacted by cancer or who plan to work in a cancer-related field, the committee established the Awareness Garden Scholarship Program. Since the establishment of the program, the team has given away more than $140,000 in scholarship funds, providing support for members of the community who have felt the damaging impacts of cancer.

One of the more unique elements of the campaign is the introduction of a giving tree. Individual donors can have their names etched into the leaves on the giving tree, creating an opportunity that the team behind the capital campaign hopes will inspire individuals across Lynchburg to give to the project. Additionally, it will provide a unique collaboration opportunity for both Centra and the Awareness Garden team, the former of whom has made a significant contribution to the Sculptural Giving Tree concept to help provide a source of encouragement to the community.  Mr. Nowlin expressed his appreciation to Centra for their support and believes that together the two organizations can make a real difference to those navigating the cancer journey in our community.

Both Nowlin and his fellow committee member, Sue Thornton, have a vision of what the expanded garden could become, potentially even an event venue that could be leased to groups for a reasonable fee. This would aim to help the garden self–sustain and continue to make a bigger impact in the community.

How Individuals Can Contribute

Thornton has also described how she sees the entire garden as a living story,  “Regardless of where they are on the cancer journey, caretaker, friends we want it to a place where they feel loved and not alone”, as well as being a place where people can engage in lively play and recreation but can also be a place for others who want to relax and take their time away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Both Thornton & Nowlin hope that the launch of the campaign will serve as an invitation for the Lynchburg community to get more involved in the awareness mission of the garden once they see the scope and impact of the project, as well as how they are already giving back to the community through scholarships and volunteering.  The campaign hopes to meet a goal of $1.5 million, and public awareness of the campaign will be crucial in meeting this target.

Thornton has also described how she sees the entire garden as a living story,  “Regardless of where they are on the cancer journey, caretaker, friends we want it to a place where they feel loved and not alone”, as well as being a place where people can engage in lively play and recreation but can also be a place for others who want to relax and take their time away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Both Thornton & Nowlin hope that the launch of the campaign will serve as an invitation for the Lynchburg community to get more involved in the awareness mission of the garden once they see the scope and impact of the project, as well as how they are already giving back to the community through scholarships and volunteering.  The campaign hopes to meet a goal of $1.5 million, and public awareness of the campaign will be crucial in meeting this target.

Nowlin and the team hope that ground will break on the parking lot and parking expansion sometime this summer. Individuals will be able to financially support the project by donating online, or by scanning a QR code on a billboard near the entrance to the project off Langhorne Road, or along various signs and displays throughout the existing garden. Visitors to Lynchburg who’ve traveled hours away from the other side of the Commonwealth, have been pleasantly surprised as they’ve discovered the garden and have been encouraged at the amount of good that can be done when others link arms in support of a cause of which all should be aware. The scope of this expansion project as well as the unifying reason provides no better opportunity for the community to come together, uplifting others who are struggling and reminding one another that no burden is too big to carry if others are shouldering the weight together.

Capital Campaign Public Launch Event

On Wednesday, May 14^th 2025, from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.  the Awareness Garden team will be officially kicking off the public launch of their Capital Campaign, “Growing Gratitude”, as well as the unveiling of the previously mentioned sculptural tree sponsored by Centra Health. This free event, for which programming is slated to begin at 11 a.m, will feature refreshments, pop-up shops, impact stories, and a recognition of thanks to the Lynchburg community for their support of the project. The AG team “looks forward to sharing some of our new improvements that will allow our community to continue to find hope and inspiration in the Garden”.

For more information about Awareness Garden, the upcoming capital campaign launch, or how you can support them financially visit their website today.