THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTNG EARTH MONTH!

Recently during a staff planning session we talked a bit about community. We use this word a lot at Friends of Trees—we plant trees + grow community—and what struck me was that though there may be variations about the meaning of community depending on who is using it and when, the common theme was, essentially, community is all of us.

YOU are part of the Friends of Trees community. Volunteers, donors, partners, tree recipients … everyone who supports and benefits from planting trees in neighborhoods and natural areas is part of this community and I sincerely thank you for being a part of this incredible organization that, in spite of a pandemic and countless challenges, planted 21,000 trees and native shrubs this season.

We asked our community to generously support Friends of Trees in honor of Earth Month, and you really did! We successfully met our $25,000 challenge, and I promise you we will put this to good work planting trees + growing community.

If you viewed any of our Earth Month events (here’s the playlist) you probably noticed that we often talk about partnerships and climate justice. Friends of Trees’ community includes partnerships with a number of truly impactful local organizations that work with underserved communities. Underserved communities experience the worst effects of climate change and our partnerships that help connect communities to the benefits of trees play an important role in achieving climate justice.

I have a final Earth Month request of you: Support our community partners. Yes, Friends of Trees will always need you, but if we are going to achieve true climate justice we all need to support Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC) organizations that are part of the movement to ensure equitable outcomes around trees and the urban canopy.

These organizations are Friends of Trees’ partners and need your support:

Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO): Uniting Asians and Pacific Islanders to achieve social justice.

The Blueprint Foundation: Uplift, educate, and support the development of black-identified youth and other communities of color.

Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center (POIC): Committed to the success of underserved youth and adults.

Wisdom of the Elders: Native American cultural sustainability, multimedia education and race reconciliation.

If you’d like to learn more about how Friends of Trees partners with these organizations visit our website here.

Thank you for joining us during Earth Month, for supporting our work and the work of our partners, and for being a part of the Friends of Trees community.