Health and heartfelt contributions
More than a decade of planting trees at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research
By Jim Gersbach
Kaiser Permanente took the photo above and the photos in the slide show below at the latest ceremonial planting (February 11, 2011) that Kaiser Permanente does every year in conjunction with our hosting the Overlook neighborhood’s Friends of Trees Neighborhood Trees planting. We’ve done this for just over a decade and have 11 trees on the campus now that were planted in association with Friends of Trees.
For the past several years we have been planting hybrid Crape Myrtles in front of Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research. They were chosen because they require heat to flower well, and this is a west-facing, sunny spot. Also, they fit the rather narrow space and will provide summer floral interest to people passing by on the MAX line.
It’s fitting that these trees are being planted on the grounds of a research center, since they came out of a successful U.S. Department of Agriculture research project to improve the hardiness and disease resistance of Crape Myrtles by collecting seeds from a rare Japanese species and making planned crossings.
–Gersbach is a volunteer Friends of Trees Crew Leader and Senior Communications Consultant for Kaiser Permanente.
Friends of Trees volunteers planted almost 160 trees in the Arbor Lodge and Overlook neighborhoods on January 29. The planting was sponsored by Adidas and Portland General Electric.
Many thanks to all of our volunteers and supporters, and to Kaiser Permanente for hosting Friends of Trees’ plantings in the Overlook neighborhood for many years. We also appreciate the Center for Health Research’s enhancement of health and education by planting trees on its campus for more than a decade.
High School volunteers help make Hazelwood, Centennial, Mill Park planting a huge success
By Kate Farrington
More trees than ever before were planted at the Hazelwood, Centennial, Mill Park planting on January 29, 2011. Neighborhood coordinators did a great job of getting the word out in the neighborhoods again this year and made it possible for us to plant 134 trees that Saturday. This number is up from 108 trees the year before and around 50 trees the year before that.
We never could have gotten them all in the ground without the help of local high school volunteers. A group of 10 students from Parkrose High School and around 30 English as a Second Language (ESL) students from David Douglas High School came out to plant that day and were a huge help. All their enthusiasm and energy were great to see out on planting crews. Thanks for all your help!
–Farrington is Neighborhood Trees Specialist for Friends of Trees.
The above slide show is made of photos taken by David Douglas High School ESL teacher Anne Downing. She and her student teacher, Tyler Green, arranged to have their students volunteer at Friends of Trees’ Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service planting in the Lents and Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhoods. Anne learned about that planting from Annette Mattson, who works at Portland General Electric, which sponsored the planting, and who has served for many years on the David Douglas School Board.
“The real value [of the plantings] is in the lifelong memories, pride in helping, and big smiles!” said Anne. “Did I mention fun? They (we!) had a blast!”