EDI, Education, Partnerships, PGE, Portland General Electric, Workforce training, young people, Youth, Youth education programming

Get to know Adrián + Project Zero

Through Project Zero young people are creating cleaner, greener communities

Project Zero intern Adrián Moreno just completed his internship with Friends of Trees and to celebrate the milestone he recently guest-starred on our Instagram account to share a little bit about his experience:

“I wanted to help mitigate the environmental crisis that we are all living right now, so I applied to the PGE Project Zero intern position and got the job! Through this internship I got to be involved in the process of creating, maintaining, and restoring green spaces.

“I also got to build and maintain community with people who want to help the environment. I was able to learn new skills and experience new environments. Before this day, I was afraid of public speaking.”

Taaj Armstrong, PGE Dean of Cohort, talks a bit about Project Zero, “Environmental stewardship is one of PGE Project Zero’s core components; with equity as a large driver, we knew that a strategic partnership with Friends of Trees would be integral in reducing the negative health impacts of climate change on low-income communities, Indigenous populations and communities of color. We were also thrilled that Friends of Trees is a partner in PGE Project Zero Works, helping to design the green jobs internship program, and hosting a PGE Project Zero intern, which has been wildly successful.”

We loved working with Adrián and are excited to share that he’s still on the Tree Team through another of our educational programs, “I really appreciate the opportunity that FOT has given me and I’ll continue working with them through the Adult Urban Forestry Training Program and complete my career in environmental economics!”

Photo: Adrián in action during his Project Zero internship.

Business Support, Community, Natural Areas, Partnerships, PGE, Portland General Electric, Right Tree Right Place, Street trees, Trees, urban trees, Volunteering

Get to know our partner: Portland General Electric

PGE CEO Maria Pope at FOT’s April planting event in Tualatin.

PGE has supported Friends of Trees since our beginning, contributing time and funding toward our shared goals of greening our region and building community.

As Friends of Trees has grown, PGE’s support has grown. PGE has sponsored hundreds of tree planting events over the past three decades, and its employees have donated hundreds of volunteer hours. And in honor of 30 years of trees + community PGE has announced a special gift that will help Friends of Trees reach the milestone of one million trees planted since our inception.

“To celebrate Friends of Trees’ significant impact on our beautiful state, we’re investing $100,000 and volunteer power, over the next five years, coming together with the community and our customers to reduce carbon, strengthen neighborhoods and improve our environment.” -Kregg Arntson, PGE’s director of Corporate Social Responsibility

In addition to donating time and money, PGE partners with Friends of Trees to plant the right type of tree in the right place. This helps prevent tree-related power outages, contributing to safe, reliable power for customers.

Friends of Trees cannot plant 50,000+ trees and native shrubs every year without the support of sponsors like PGE. Their support, since our founding, has been key in our ability to plant 800,000 trees and native shrubs to date with tens of thousands of volunteers. We are just thrilled that PGE’s $100,000 pledge will help us get to the incredible milestone of one million trees planted.

 

This story is from the Summer 2019 edition of our e-news, Treemail; check out the rest of Treemail here.

Business Support, Community, FOT Events, Green Space, Habitat, native trees, Natural Areas, Nature, Partnerships, PGE, planting trees, Portland General Electric, Tree City USA, Tualatin, Volunteering

PGE announces $100k, 5 year grant to reach 1 million trees planted

This Saturday, April 13th, Friends of Trees volunteers will plant more than 1,000 trees and native shrubs in Tualatin with longtime partners Portland General Electric (PGE) and the City of Tualatin. PGE employees, including Maria Pope, PGE’s President and CEO, and their friends and family will be planting alongside representatives from the City of Tualatin and its Mayor Frank Bubenik, and community members.

This year, PGE announced a special gift of $100,000 that will help Friends of Trees reach the milestone of one million trees planted since its inception. PGE has supported Friends of Trees since its founding in 1989; PGE is sponsoring a total of 10 planting and tree-care events, bringing the total of PGE-sponsored plantings to more than 100 since 2005.

A press release with event details and contact information is here.