On Saturday, October 15th, the NJ Tree Foundation held a tree planting event in Camden, like it does most Saturdays in October. This time, it wasn’t just an ordinary tree planting. The NJ Tree Foundation wanted to celebrate a huge milestone: the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Urban Airshed Reforestation Program in Camden.
Volunteers, over 60 in attendance, gathered to plant trees and learn more about the NJ Tree Foundation. Longtime resident and community activist Sheila Roberts opened the day with words about her story, getting involved with the NJ Tree Foundation, and what trees mean to her. Volunteers spent the day planting 7 new fruit trees for Sheila’s garden, Cooper Sprouts. We also worked in the greater Cooper Plaza neighborhood to plant 12 new and replacement trees along Auburn, Washington, and Benson Streets. This will complete a year-long effort to replace trees around the hospital area in Cooper Plaza. Volunteers walked the neighborhood with NJ Tree Foundation staff, learning about the program and how trees make an impact. Groups like Cooper Medical School, TransUnion, L3 Harris and more participated in the day. We are grateful for the huge turnout of volunteers who came together to plant trees and celebrate with us.
Twenty years ago, we worked with Sheila Roberts and the residents of Royden street to transform their block by planting street trees. Today, we continue to work with Sheila and all Camden residents to transform their neighborhood, school, church, and more. We are appreciative of the unpaid time and work that residents put in going door to door to gather signatures for new trees. The NJ Tree Foundation is also thankful for the in-kind help of city partners like the Camden City Department of Public Works, who help us offload and set up each project. Great partners like Sheila and the DPW make the work meaningful, and help us ensure that the tree planting projects make a difference in the lives of Camden residents.
To conclude the celebration this month, we were honored to be one of this year’s Campbell Cares award recipients. Each year, the Campbell Soup Company acknowledges local organizations working in Camden. Big thanks to the Campbell Soup Company and the Campbell Foundation for working with us over many years providing fruit trees and shrubs to combat food access issues in Camden.
From all of us at the NJ Tree Foundation, we extend a big thank you to all residents, volunteers, partners, collaborators and funders for supporting the Urban Airshed Reforestation Program for the last twenty years. We are excited for the opportunity to work with all of you over the past two decades, and look forward to the next 20 years planting trees in Camden!