Happy Holidays from Friends of Trees!

This holiday season, we celebrate all the good things that grow on trees: better health, energy conservation, stronger and safer communities, and even money.

Thank you for helping make this an amazing year for Friends of Trees. This year we expanded to Eugene and Springfield, received national awards for our partnership with ODOT and Metro to green the I-205 Multi-Use Path, and were honored to have our Plant It Portland! campaign featured on PGE’s award-winning float in the Rose Festival. We also had a great time during the first year of our “Score a Goal, Plant a Tree” partnership with the Portland Timbers.

During the 2010-11 season, our Neighborhood Trees program planted more than 4,500 street and yard trees in Portland, Vancouver, and Beaverton, a 24% increase over the year before. Our Green Space Initiative planted more than 24,000 native trees and plants, a 70% increase over the year before. This happened because thousands of volunteers gave more than 30,000 hours of their time.

Volunteer Albert Kaufman describes Friends of Trees this way: “We love Friends of Trees! Efficient, friendly, organized, and creating lasting change. Every city should be so lucky to have such an amazing group in their town.”

Your contributions, like the time given by Albert and by the Hartmann family (above), make it possible for us to continue improving Oregon communities now and in the future.

This December, we invite you to celebrate the greening of Oregon communities by making a tax-deductible year-end gift to Friends of Trees. Through our Gift Trees program, you can even dedicate a tree as a gift to friends and family while making your tax-deductible contribution. Or discover the fun of giving and receiving by donating to us through the Willamette Week Give!Guide. Recently we’ve received helpful support when boats and cars were donated to us. The Center for Car Donations will tow and sell any vehicle you no longer use, donate the sales to us, and give you the paperwork you need to declare a tax deduction.

However you choose to help, future generations will thank you. All of us at Friends of Trees wish you a Happy Holiday and a Green New Year!

— Scott Fogarty, Friends of Trees Executive Director