With support from United Way of Gratiot & Isabella Counties (UWGIC), the nonprofit’s fiscal sponsor, Trees NOW has been promoting the planting of trees since 2019 when co-founders James Hageman and David Alm saw the interest in planting from the community.
Two eighth-grade classes at Mount Pleasant Middle School assisted in planting 20 trees with Trees NOW Isabella. This was Friday, April 29. Member of the Trees NOW steering committee, Tami Melton, says that trees are something that are always there in front of everyone’s faces, but their benefit and impact may not be known.
There are many ways trees can benefit the environment, the public, and the environment at large. Melton states that the Mount Pleasant Middle School planting was a great success. All the students were thrilled to be there.
“The teachers were really excited about helping the kids understand, well, number one, why trees are important, and number two, how to plant them and take care of them,” she says. “So they’re out there with us digging holes, and they did a great job. It was fantastic.”
Twenty trees had been planted by the end of the event. Trees NOW also gave $100 gift cards to Alwood Landscaping and Nursery for middle school students to help them choose a tree to plant at home.
“I hope that just helping them to notice nature, appreciate it and hopefully, if they develop that appreciation, they have a desire to care for them and plant more trees,” Melton says. “That’s the goal here, to get as many trees planted as we can.”
Grants provided funding for the Mount Pleasant Middle School’s planting and the Winn Elementary School’s upcoming work on Saturday April 30th. Trees NOW IsabellaBy the Urban and Community Forestry Grants ProgramYou can find the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Visit www.upcomingprojects.com for more information. treeplace.org/trees-now-isabella.
Related: secondwavemedia.com/epicenter/features/Trees-NOW-Isabella.aspx