Planting Trees
Planting Trees
Alliance for Community Trees partners with corporate sponsors and affiliate organizations to plant trees in metropolitan areas around the country. Volunteer tree plantings take place at schools, parks, residential neighborhoods, business sites, and other locations where new trees will tangibly improve the quality of life. ACT's nationwide network of grassroots member organizations enables it to plan projects in places that matter to its partners. Many planting projects are undertaken in conjunction with corporate responsibility campaigns or product releases, and engage a sponsor's employees in volunteer action.
ACT works with sponsors to identify service opportunities in key markets and coordinates with local member organizations to plan tree plantings with immediate community impact. ACT and its local member organizations have staged service events in partnership with companies like The Home Depot Foundation, CSX, United Airlines, and Anchor Bay Entertainment. Through direct project coordination and pass-through grant administration, ACT has delivered partner projects that range from youth plantings at elementary schools to urban park beautification near corporate headquarters to reforestation on storm-damaged campuses. ACT staff works with sponsors to plan events that will attract media coverage to strengthen public image as well as offer satisfying volunteer experiences for employees. Here are some examples of ACT's tree planting projects.
The Home Depot Foundation
ACT's NeighborWoods partnership with The Home Depot Foundation plants trees to enhance affordable housing and contribute to community revitalization. The program has provided $2.2 million in technical and financial assistance to non-profit organizations in 134 cities since 2005, resulting in over 200,000 trees planted and cared for by nearly 100,000 volunteers. Through National NeighborWoods Grants, ACT local member organizations have planted trees to improve the health, livability, and affordability of communities in dozens of urban centers from coast to coast. Over 1,000 associates from The Home Depot local stores have rolled up their sleeves and contributed their strength and spirit to NeighborWoods tree planting projects in cities like Albuquerque, Pittsburgh, Denver, Sacramento, Des Moines, Nashville, and New Orleans.
More information at: NeighborWoods
CSX
ACT is a proud national partner with CSX and City Year in the Trees for Tracks program. This campaign will plant 21,000 trees-one for each mile owned by railway company CSX-in cities where CSX employees live and work. Trees for Tracks plantings take place in partnership with ACT's local member organizations. Since Fall 2009, Trees for Tracks has engaged hundreds of CSX employees and families as well as community volunteers to plant over 1,000 trees. Volunteers have planted trees at schools and community colleges in Baltimore, Miami, Philadelphia, and Worcester, MA; along railroad tracks and highways in Indianapolis and Fredericksburg, VA; at a public park in Jacksonville, FL; and in a historic Atlanta neighborhood ravaged by a 2008 tornado. Trees for Tracks plantings have garnered television, newspaper, and newswire coverage.
More information at: Trees for Tracks
Wubbzy Goes Green
ACT partnered with Anchor Bay Entertainment, producer of the Nick, Jr., cartoon Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, to support youth tree planting projects in Spring 2010. To coincide with the release of the Wubbzy Goes Green DVD, ACT offered mini-grants to help fund tree plantings with children at schools and early childhood education centers. These projects engaged 1,200 young children in earth-friendly activities and learning, while also improving their learning and play spaces with trees. Wubbzy Goes Green planting events took place in 9 cities from coast to coast in partnership with ACT local member organizations, and some even featured an appearance by Wubbzy himself. Media coverage included television, newspaper, and blog pieces on the local and national level.
More information at: Wubbzy Goes Green
United Airlines
ACT began a pilot partnership with United Airlines in Spring 2010 to organize plantings with United employees in five hub cities. The series of plantings kicked off with a May event for employees in the Washington, DC, area. United employees and their families joined students of all ages to reforest a section of the campus at a Fairfax County, VA, elementary school. ACT member organization Fairfax ReLeaf led the 85 volunteers in planting nearly 300 seedlings to extend the forest around the perimeter of the school. Future tree plantings with United employees will take place in Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco.
American Bar Association
In September 2009 the American Bar Association launched its ambitious One Million Trees project with a tree planting in Baltimore, MD. ABA staff and volunteers worked with ACT and local member group Parks & People Foundation to plant at and around the Franklin Square Elementary/Middle School in West Baltimore. This event also kicked off ACT's National NeighborWoods Month 2009. For the One Million Trees project, ABA members are encouraged to contribute to the campaign by participating in hands-on tree planting activities in their community, engaging in publicity and educational outreach efforts throughout the year, and purchasing a tree through any of the program partners. Through public outreach and partnering efforts, this project aims to raise the nation's awareness of the multiple benefits of trees and their role in helping to fight climate change.
More information at: One Million Trees
