Bingo! Fun with Friends of Trees

We love our volunteers, for so many reasons. Of course, reason #1 is that volunteers are key to getting 50,000+ trees and native shrubs in the ground every season. Another reason? Fun Bingo responses! At our recent volunteer appreciation party Friends of Trees Bingo featured factoids about FOT, trees and volunteering–and some of those answers were pretty fun. Check it out (“real” answers provided, too):

What is a tree’s favorite beer?

Lager | Root Beer | Rain-here/Rain-eer/Rainier 

Is there a correct answer? This is actually a great opportunity to share important information about the water needs of newly planted trees: 15 gallons a week during the dry summer months for the first few years a tree is in the ground. This requirement has changed as our climate has warmed up, so be sure to water those thirsty trees! Find more tree care tidbits here.

Find someone who first started volunteering this season

Me! | Barry | Carmen

We LOVE that you, Barry, Carmen and so many other community members came out and volunteered with us this season! We hear all the time that a Friends of Trees planting event is the first time someone volunteered for anything; we also hear that one of our events is often the first time someone planted anything. What’s even better: So many first-time volunteers and first-time planters come back again and again for more. This is so special, and just what our community needs. Haven’t yet volunteered with Friends of Trees? Explore how.

What’s a tip for working with kids on a tree planting crew?

Plant the kid in the first hole | Have them look for worms | Snacks | Worms | Snacks

Friends of Trees engages more than 2,000 young people every season, through planting events and school-based partnerships. Our education programming for youth from elementary to high school combines classroom curriculum with field work, helping to grow the next Tree Team generation. Learn more about young people getting their hands dirty through planting trees.

 

What is the most common genus of tree planted in most major cities, including Portland?

Acer (Maple)

OK, so pretty much everyone had the correct answer without even a pun. But this is a great way to remind folks about the importance of planting a diverse variety of trees: Tree diversity helps protect against species-specific pests and diseases, which in turn helps ensure a healthy canopy. Tree diversity also supports a wide range of pollinators and other beneficial insects, and so much more, which is why Friends of Trees strives to provide a diverse tree selection list everywhere we plant. Interested in getting a tree from Friends of Trees? Here’s the first step.

 

Name two FOT planting partners

City of Tualatin | Verde | POIC | PGE | City of Portland | Portland Trail Blazers

We received lots of correct answers and maybe this wasn’t the most humorous category. But we want to use this apparently easy Bingo answer to share that partnerships are just as necessary to our mission as volunteers, and we have so many partnerships. The photo above represents a few:

  • The planting is in Portland’s Cully neighborhood, where our planting partner Verde is based.
  • All Neighborhood Trees planting events in Portland neighborhoods are in partnership with the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services.
  • Pictured in the photo are planters representing a couple of partners: Deward (2nd from left) is a POIC student and FOT Crew Leader, and Julieta (far right) is from David Douglas High School. Our POIC partnership involves student development, education and job training through students training and serving as FOT Crew Leaders; and, for more than six years DDHS students have volunteered at our outer-southeast Portland tree-planting events. (also pictured: Crew Leader Carmen, 1st on the left, and FOT staffers Manuel and Pablo, 3rd and 4th from left)

Further, sponsors such as the Portland Trail Blazers are also crucial to the success of our program, since their support is key to bridging funding gaps. In fact, Trail Blazers was the most common response to this question — #ripcity! (read about our 3s For Trees partnership below). We’d love for your business to join us as a sponsor!

There is so much more to know about trees and Friends of Trees, hone up here!

Fans appreciate Portland Trail Blazers, Green Game & Garry Oak

FOT Mascot Garry Oak at Blazers "Green Game" April 3, 2011
Blazers fan Garry Oak

Friends of Trees’ Garry Oak enjoyed meeting Portland Trail Blazers fans at the team’s “Green Game” on April 3, 2011, where the Blazers beat the Mavericks 104-96.

If you hugged or mugged with Garry at the game, find yourself in the slide show below!

Friends of Trees is honored to partner with the Portland Trail Blazers to make our community greener. See photos on the team’s web site of Blazer Marcus Camby and his daughter planting with us last month.

The April 3 game was part of NBA Green Week. You can learn more about Friends of Trees’ partnership with the Blazers and the trees Marcus Camby planted with us on our blog, Growth Rings.

–TR