Month: December 2016

Trees for 2017

Beth Kwart Benefits of Trees, Fundraising, Just for Fun, Pictures, Success Stories

To everyone who has donated – Thank you! We are so grateful for your support! If you have not already sent a gift, please join the dozens of folks who will help plant trees in 2017.

With your gift we can reforest city streets, plant trees in urban parks, provide fruit trees to community and backyard gardeners, supply city residents with tools and educational materials to maintain their trees, and more! There are a few hours left to make a tax-deductible donation in 2016. Please contribute.

With your help in 2016 we planted 1,322 trees, beautifying city streets and parks and improving neighborhoods across the state. We made lasting, happy memories with hundreds of volunteers and shared success and joy with people like Yvonne, Marion, and Kaushire. Please help us build on last year’s successes.

Trees beautify our communities, bring happiness to city residents, improve air and water quality, and offer habitat and food for our furry and feathered friends. You can make a difference with trees by donating to the NJ Tree Foundation today. Your support is greatly appreciated and will benefit New Jersey and its residents for years to come.

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Sincerely,
Lisa Simms
Executive Director
NJ Tree Foundation
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Green Jobs: “A haircut for trees”

Lisa Simms Benefits of Trees, Fundraising, Just for Fun, Pictures, Success Stories

Sometimes our Green Streets Program hires guys that really stand out. Kaushire, who worked with me this past spring and summer, is one of them.

Kaushire hauling soil

Our Green Streets Program trains men under parole supervision to plant trees and complete green infrastructure work, like installing rain gardens. Most of these men simply need a second chance. They got wrapped up in the wrong things and need a job to support themselves and their families in a respectable way. Kaushire was no different. He has a son to support. He made a few mistakes while trying to earn money. But now, he has turned his life around.

Kaushire worked with us until the end of July when our season wrapped up. A warehouse hired Kaushire for part-time employment right after he finished with us. I was happy when he told me recently the warehouse had hired him permanent full-time. He is such a hard worker! You might have seen him smiling and laughing while he was moving concrete or mulch, planting trees, or installing a rain garden in your town.

When asked about his time with the Tree Foundation, Kaushire says, “I’m lucky. My crew got to work from end of March to the end of July. We planted trees. Lots of them! We worked hard. I liked pruning the trees. It’s like a haircut for trees. I’m so blessed to work for the Tree Foundation. Best experience of my life.”

Please help us provide more green job opportunities for guys like Kaushire. There are only a few days left to make a tax-deductible donation in 2016. With your support, we can plant more trees and offer a stepping-stone for men who deserve a second chance.

Thank you,
James Cunningham aka “Famous James”donate-button-jpeg
Urban Forestry Technician & Green Streets Crew Supervisor
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Me, Karon, and Kaushire after planting a rain garden in Newark

Trees “Rise Up” in Camden

Beth Kwart Benefits of Trees, Fundraising, Good Landscaping, Pictures, Success Stories
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Marion and her grandmother Shiela

I have met many wonderful people while planting trees in Camden over the past eight years, and 17-year-old Marion is one of them. She wasn’t even a teenager when I first met her. I’ve seen her grow up planting trees and tending gardens in one of America’s toughest cities.

In 2012, Marion and I planted a willow tree with her family and neighbors at a newly-established community garden. The lot was completely barren at the time, and we planted the willow in tough, abandoned soil. The tree, in Marion’s words, “turned a deserted lot into an oasis of peace and hope in Camden.” She sees the willow as a metaphor for life – that beauty can grow from hardship and that hope can inspire an entire community to “rise up.” Marion wrote a poem inspired by the tree. The beloved willow won a regional “Tree of the Year” award after Marion and her grandmother entered the poem and a picture of the willow in a 2016 contest.

“Our community members fight poverty every day, yet the willow tree remains a peaceful place in our community, helping our residents see the importance of our urban canopy,” Marion’s poem states. It ends, “The willow tree represents a place of peace and calmness as the birds chirp, butterflies fly and the branches cascade around you as if to give you a hug or maybe even protect you.”

The NJ Tree Foundation works year-round to transform urban communities by planting trees. Marion’s neighborhood is a testament to the impressive transformation that can occur from a single tree. I hope that you will support the NJ Tree Foundation in reaching our goal of raising $10,000 by the end of December. Together, we can make neighborhoods rise up with trees.

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Jessica Franzini
Senior Program Director
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Marion’s “Tree of Hope” when first planted in 2012…
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…and thriving in 2016

Admiring Tree Lined Streets

Elena Lopez Benefits of Trees, Fundraising, Good Landscaping, Success Stories

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I first met the residents of Montrose Street in Newark (pictured above) in June 2016. Before Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, they had magnificent 100-year-old oaks lining their street. After the storms, they lost all but three of their beloved trees. They told me the summers were significantly hotter without shade. The peaceful aura of nature was lost. The void left behind was evident.

The Montrose Street residents were overjoyed to begin working with the NJ Tree Foundation’s Renaissance Trees Program, which helps city residents like them plant trees to improve their environment and quality of life. I worked with the Montrose Street neighbors for months to plan their tree planting event.

On November 5th, each and every resident on Montrose Street helped plant 29 trees, with every single eligible household accepting one or two trees in front of their home! “Montrose Street was blessed with a fabulous tree planting day. We planted 29 trees and we are ready to do it again,” exclaimed Yvonne, who received two trees and helped organize the planting. She continued, “It was truly phenomenal. It really united our block under something positive.”montrose-street-3

Together, we planted beautiful ornamental cherries and Shantung maple trees that will grow along with the children and families of Montrose Street. The trees are being enjoyed today and will be enjoyed for generations to come.

Please make a contribution to the NJ Tree Foundation so we may continue to reforest New Jersey cities and replace what has been lost in devastating storms. Your support is greatly appreciated by the NJ Tree Foundation and New Jersey residents like those of Montrose Street, who truly adore their new trees.donate-button-jpeg

Thank you,

Elena, Renaissance Trees Program Director

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Yvonne and two of her neighbors with one of the 29 new trees.

40,000 FREE Trees & Shrubs for Spring 2017!

Lisa Simms Benefits of Trees, Good Landscaping, Just for Fun, Tree Care, Volunteers
This program has closed. Thank you for your interest!
The NJ Tree Foundation, in partnership with Treecycler, is offering 40,000 tree & shrub saplings for free! Trees & shrubs may be used for reforestation, stream bank restoration, etc.
  • Trees & shrubs must be ordered in packs of 50 (one packet). Minimum order is 500 trees/shrubs or 10 packets.
  • A simple, one-page final report and photographs (before & after) of the tree planting will be required.
  • The NJ Tree Foundation requests that you publicize your tree planting on social media (Facebook, Twitter & Instagram) and regular media.
  • Trees must be picked up from one of the locations listed. You may pick up your order from the Jackson location at any time. Simply call ahead first.
  • Trees must be planted and not given away.

Free Tree Shrub Application

Questions? Email Lisa Simms, lsimms@njtreefoundation.org


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