Local parents planning the nature trail and outdoor learning center at Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School are riding high after record-breaking donations from the St. Helena Kiwanis Club and St. Helena Boy Scouts.

A $13,000 gift from St. Helena Boy Scouts will fund ongoing construction. That money came from the Boy Scouts’ memorial fund for Ryan Collins and Stephen McCullagh, who were killed after being struck by lightning during a 2005 scouting trip.

Scoutmaster Stu Smith said nobody had suggested a suitable use for that money until plans ramped up for the nature trail, which is being dedicated in part to the memories of Collins and McCullagh.

“Ryan was an RLS student and Stephen came through RLS and loved it, and the nature trail seemed like a perfect use for the money the community donated,” said Smith.

A $10,500 donation from the St. Helena Kiwanis Club will be matched by funds from the St. Helena Unified School District to build one of the nature trail’s two greenhouses.

The donations are the largest in the history of each club. But it’s not just money the clubs are offering. Kiwanis Club President Jay Lewis said both clubs have pledged to volunteer physical labor to build the greenhouse.

With the help of RLS students, the greenhouse could be finished in one or two days, said Lewis.

The greenhouses are part of the nature trail’s outdoor learning center, which will also include a vineyard, a butterfly garden, a redwood grove and a stage for live outdoor performances.

The facilities will provide instruction in a variety of subjects, from history to viticulture. The school district plans to make the area’s resources available to the rest of the district’s schools.

Kiwanis has pledged support for one greenhouse, but as nature trail planner Sue Collins said during a site visit, there is still a sponsorship opportunity available for the second greenhouse.

Given the success of their appeals to Kiwanis and Boy Scouts, organizers like Collins, who have dubbed themselves “Dirt Angels,” plan to approach other local service clubs in the coming weeks.

Kids are climbing aboard the fundraising bandwagon as well. Sixth-grader Markley LaPointe, the son of “Dirt Angel” Molly Morales, raised $250 last weekend by requesting cash donations to the nature trail in lieu of gifts for his 12th birthday.

“He cares about the healing of the community,” said Morales. “He feels sad for the Collins family and the rest of the Scouts who suffered that loss, and he knows building this trail will give them a place where they can place their minds and heal their hearts.”

Last November eighth-grader Maddie Conover was the first RLS student to come up with the idea of turning a birthday celebration into a fundraiser for the nature trail.

To find out more about donating to the nature trail, e-mail mollymorales@comcast.net.