More than 550 volunteers plant 2,000 trees to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Many thanks to the more than 550 volunteers who helped us plant nearly 2,000 trees during the Jan. 14-16 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend of service.

Below is a slide show of photos from three of our seven planting and restoration events, which were held in Portland, Vancouver, Tualatin, Salem, Eugene, and Springfield. Some of the media coverage included stories in the following: Portland Observer, Oregon Legal Journal, KLCC audio and print, and Sunday’s Register-Guard.

Friends of Trees appreciates the following community leaders who joined us at the weekend events: Oregon State Rep. Michael Dembrow, Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen, Metro Councilor Carl Hosticka, Eugene City Councilor George Brown, and Portland Timbers players Eric Brunner and Jake Gleeson.

We also thank the partners and sponsors of our weekend events, including the Portland Timbers, Recology, REI Portland, Portland Environmental Services, ODOT, Metro, East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, Clean Water Services, the City of Tualatin, the City of Vancouver, and Willamalane Park & Recreation District.

“Friends of Trees is one of our employee favorites,” said REI’s Janet Schmidt at Monday’s I-205 Multi-Use Path planting. REI Portland employees chose Friends of Trees to receive a grant of $10,000 to plant trees along the path this year.

A big thank-you goes to Hands On Greater Portland and United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, who linked us with many of our weekend-of-service volunteers, and to volunteers from Starbucks St. Johns, River Warriors, Boy Scout Troop 95, Ecova, the Portland Waldorf School, and the University of Oregon Service Learning group and Environmental Studies students.

Our weekend plantings were dedicated to our colleague and friend, David Odom, who passed away on January 14.

–TR