September 9th, 2017 – Camden, NJ – On Saturday September 9th, 22 Camden residents attended a fruit tree workshop and giveaway hosted by the NJ Tree Foundation. At this event, made possible with a grant from the Campbell Soup Foundation, residents learned how to plant the trees and grow their own fruit organically before leaving with one or more free fruit trees and a care package.
“Our fruit tree giveaway was a great success,” explained NJ Tree Foundation Program Coordinator Meredith Brown. “We provided 68 fruit trees to residents with backyard gardens and residents running community gardens. The fruit trees are creating new food access points for residents and bringing affordable, fresh, organic fruit right to their neighborhoods. Fruit trees are trickier to care for when compared to common garden plants like tomatoes, so the educational workshop component of this event was key,” Brown continued.
The workshop and giveaway were hosted at the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, who kindly provided a meeting room free of charge. After the workshop, the residents received a tour of the Center for Environmental Transformation’s fruit tree orchard on Ferry Avenue in Camden.
Residents were thrilled with their new fruit trees. Many have already been planted throughout the community, including the peach tree at the Center For Family Services PowerCorps headquarters on Morgan Blvd, as shown in the picture provided by PowerCorps. PowerCorps youth, who are Camden residents, picked locations for the fruit trees and planted them together.
Throughout the week, the NJ Tree Foundation will provide an additional 57 fruit trees to community and backyard gardeners in Camden, for a total of 125 new fruit trees throughout the city.
“We look forward to giving out the rest of the trees,” Brown said. “It is very exciting for the residents to be able to grow their own fruit. We know the trees will be well-cared for, and the residents should enjoy a great harvest next year!”
If you would like to support the NJ Tree Foundation’s fruit tree projects, please make a donation at njtreefoundation.org/donate.