March 19 planting photos & gratitude
Many thanks to the 167 volunteers who helped Friends of Trees plant nearly 500 trees at our Neighborhood Trees plantings and our Green Space Initiative planting along the I-205 Multi-Use Path in Lents on March 19. Special thanks to photographers Staci Heathman and Melissa Timko, whose images are a part of the slide show below, and to the Tzu Chi Academy, whose many volunteers made a big difference at our Lents planting.
On Friday Portland Trail Blazer Marcus Camby joined Friends of Trees and the Boys & Girls Club to plant along the I-205 Multi-Use Path in Lents. The plantings was part of the Blazers’ “Make It Better” program. We appreciate the Blazers’ generous support and our partnership in the team’s Green Game this spring.
On Saturday, Multnomah County Commissioner Judy Shiprack, Metro’s Mary Rose Navarro, East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District Vice-Chair Rick Till, ODOT’s Shelli Romero, and Friends of Trees board member Fred Nilsen joined community volunteers to plant at the same location in Lents. Students from Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center led some of the volunteers.
In addition, Phoebe, who was featured in one of our December Why I Plant Trees ads in The Oregonian, joined her mother to plant along the Multi-Use Path on Saturday. They named a tree they planted at the top of the hill “Pete,” and they plan to check on Pete’s growth whenever they pass by. Phoebe also donated $28.87 to Friends of Trees in coins that she’d set aside from several months of allowance. It was her second donation of collected coins! Find out more about Phoebe and how you can support Friends of Trees, too.
“We had a great time planting trees along I- 205 Saturday,” said Mei-Shan Wang of the Tzu Chi Foundation, Portland Service Center. “Portland Tzu Chi Academy students, parents, and volunteers enjoyed experiences of serving community at the same time protected our environment. Go Green!”
You can see more photos of the Tzu Chi Academy students and parents on the Tzu Chi Academy web site.
Friends of Trees volunteers also planted 190 street and yard trees in the Beaumont-Wilshire, Cully, and Roseway neighborhoods. The planting was sponsored by the Port of Portland in partnership with Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES).
In the the Madison South and Rose City Park neighborhoods—another Plant It Portland! event supported by BES—volunteers planted 131 street and yard trees.
“My husband and I really enjoyed the Madison South planting event, and we love our new tree!” said Melissa Timko, who sent us photos.
We hope you’ll join us this Saturday for our final Neighborhood Trees plantings of the 2010-11 season in Portland’s Concordia and Vernon neighborhoods and Vancouver’s Burton Ridge, Fircrest, Marrion, Oakbrook, and Ogden neighborhoods. We’ll also plant 25 big trees at Eisenhower School Park in Hazel Dell, Vancouver, and our Green Space Initiative program will lead a planting at Durham City Park.
The Concordia and Vernon planting is sponsored by NW Natural, in partnership with BES. The Vancouver plantings are in partnership with Vancouver Urban Forestry. And the Durham City Park planting is in partnership with Metro, Tualatin Watershed’s Clean Water Services, and the City of Durham.
–TR