Even in slushy conditions, volunteers showed up to Bybee Lakes Hope Center with inspiring attitudes
On Saturday February 15th, an inch of snow still covered the VetREST Victory Garden at the Bybee Lakes Hope Center. When it started raining, it seemed like one of those mornings when folks might decide to stay home, and who could blame them. Luckily the roads were clean and volunteers slowly but surely arrived, proving their commitment to planting native plants in a meadow once intended to be a prison yard.
The Bybee Lakes Hope Center building was originally meant to be a correctional facility, but that never came to be. Now it serves as a transitional housing facility in North Portland supporting people experiencing homelessness. Outside, there’s a five-acre Victory Garden run by VetREST. VetREST helps military veterans address their challenges with a goal of finding peace from their hidden battles, providing farming and gardening opportunities and mentorship.
On that Saturday in February, dozens and dozens of volunteers showed up to plant more than 800 native pollinator plants among trees planted by Friends of Trees volunteers three years ago.
Volunteers spread compost on the sandy soil to give the plants nutrients. Steaming wheelbarrows crisscrossed the meadow, weaving between pods of plants and snowpeople constructed by some of the younger volunteers. By the time we finished, enough snow had melted to reveal the mulch path that weaves through the meadow to the orchard, and it became easy to imagine taking a peaceful spring stroll among the milkweed, goldenrod, and Oregon grape.
“It’s a testament to the volunteers. The actions of folks like this are really making a difference to transform this into an amazing space. This is the essence of a community garden.”
Why take a car when you can take a bicycle? The Eugene Branch has always taken that mindset and incorporates bicycle crews whenever they get the chance. On February 22, they had three biking crews—and a walking crew!—bring the spirit of sustainability to the South Eugene Planting event.
“It’s always so cool to see bikes with trailers full of trees,” says Eugene-Springfield Program Manager Taylor Glass.
Bike crews are able to transport trees and tools from the staging site to planting locations by using bicycle trailers. Last year, our Eugene-Springfield team received an Electric Mobility Grant from the Eugene Water & Electric Board. We got two new electric bicycles and this is our first year incorporating those into the plantings.
To give even more folks a chance to participate on two wheels, the Eugene Branch partners with the local bikeshare, PeaceHealth Rides, to have their bikes available at events and free to volunteers. On Eugene Director Erik’s bike team on Saturday, he had five volunteers, and Erik and four of the volunteers rode PeaceHealth Rides bikes.
“I just love it,” Erik says. “It’s so fun to see the look of amazement on people’s faces in cars driving by us when a whole crew rides past hauling big trees. And when treecipients see us pull up, they’re so surprised to see we biked their tree over.”
Help us reach our 1 millionth tree this planting season!
If you can believe it, we are nearing the end of the season, so sign up now to get your planting in! Whether it’s in a neighborhood or natural area, we would love your help taking climate action and building community with trees and native plants.
We’re still looking for volunteers for these events:
March 8, Village Green Park natural area planting, Happy Valley
March 15, Fourth Plan Corridor neighborhood planting, Vancouver
March 15, Tranquil Park natural area planting, Wilsonville
March 22, Balm Grove natural area planting, Gales Creek
Crew Leaders and Assistants—watch your inbox for Crew Leader News on the first of the month! Trained Crew Leaders sign-up for events here.
Get To Know Our Partner: PGE
With us since 1989, Portland General Electric is is the Presenting Partner of our Millionth Tree Celebration
Just like the decades-old trees we’ve planted throughout the years, our partnership with Portland General Electric has deep roots. Over the past 36 years, PGE has sponsored hundreds of tree planting events. With PGE employees volunteering countless hours to the cause, it’s not uncommon to see a crew of volunteers wearing PGE shirts, eager to get trees in the ground.
“Planting just one tree is really gratifying, but planting one million together is an amazing milestone that demonstrates our values as a community,” said PGE Community Impact Director, Kregg Arntson. We are grateful to Friends of Trees for bringing us together for more than three decades to plant trees and native plants that have beautified our neighborhoods and parks, made the air cleaner, and contributed to healthier living.”
We’re excited that Portland General Electric is the Presenting Partner for our Millionth Tree Celebration. They’re helping us celebrate by supporting volunteer events throughout the planting season and other fun community events like tree walks and volunteer appreciation parties. All of this will culminate with the Millionth Tree Celebration & Planting in April.
“We could not have reached this milestone without their support,” says Yashar Vasef, Friends of Trees Executive Director. “We’re so grateful to have had such a committed partner throughout our entire history.”
PGE is also helping us tell the story of our first million trees and native shrubs. Check out A Million Trees, A Million Stories, brought to you by PGE, to hear about some of the people who have made an incredible impact for the community working with Friends of Trees.
The beer garden at Level now has a Friends of Trees arboretum tour!
Since 2022, Friends of Trees has planted trees and native shrubs at Level Beer as part of a larger project designed to improve air quality in Northeast Portland and protect the Columbia Slough Watershed.
Level is excited to make their beer garden a place where people can connect with nature, enjoy the beauty of trees and native plants, and learn about some of the species planted here. Almost everything there was planted by Friends of Trees volunteers! Find a QR code at the beer garden to activate the tour (you can check it out here).
Spring is on our doorstep—it’s a perfect time to head to Level Beer’s Level 1 location, grab a Taproot Pilsner, and tour the Arboretum!
A MILLION TREES*
This season Friends of Trees celebrates planting a million trees *and native shrubs with more than 75,000 community volunteers since 1989.
Think about the difference those trees and natural areas make in our lives; think about all of those volunteers, getting up on countless Saturday mornings over the past 36 years. That’s why we’re celebrating with tree walks, tree talks, and special events! This celebration is made possible by our Presenting Partner: Portland General Electric!
We want to hear your Friends of Trees story! Whether it’s a funny anecdote, a lovely little memory, or a longer tale, your stories will help us celebrate our Millionth Tree season! Read some stories or submit your own here.
Our first bilingual planting ~ El Primer Evento Bilingüe de Plantar árboles de Friends of Trees | Get to know our partner: Sandy River Watershed Council
