Jersey City, NJ (September 9, 2015)– The NJ Tree Foundation and Keep Jersey City Beautiful announced that Lowe’s has awarded a $10,000 grant to help make Jersey City a clean, green and a more beautiful place to live. Tree planting to take place Thursday September 10, 9AM -12 noon in Columbia Park.
The Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s grant provides funding for the Columbia Park reforestation project, to be completed on September 10, 2015 with the assistance of local Lowe’s Heroes employee volunteers. This project will plant perennials, shrubs, and 20 trees that are at least 10 feet tall in Columbia Park. Certified Tree Experts recently evaluated Columbia Park. This project will plant all of the new trees in the park’s Tree Maintenance Plan as recommended by the Certified Tree Experts. The project will also create five microhabitats, with shrubs and perennials surrounding trees to provide food and shelter for birds, butterflies, and other wildlife.
“We are thankful for the support from Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s to implement this much needed project. Our trees suffered greatly during Hurricane Sandy and other extreme storms. This grant will allow us to plant new trees, shrubs, and perennials to bring more beauty into Columbia Park,” said Mr. Doug Carlucci, Aide to the Mayor. “We are fortunate to work with the NJ Tree Foundation to complete this work as they have over 15 years experience implementing similar projects,” Mr. Carlucci added.
“The NJ Tree Foundation is very excited for the Columbia Park project. Trees are an important resource as they mitigate air pollution and a
bsorb stormwater to reduce flooding,” explained Elena López, Program Director for the NJ Tree Foundation.
The Columbia Park project grant is one of 50 merit-based grants awarded nationally by Lowe’s to community-based affiliates of Keep America Beautiful in support of grassroots service projects ranging from restoring neighborhood parks and planting community gardens to leading disaster restoration initiatives and large-scale cleanups.
“We take great pride in the work we do with Keep America Beautiful to improve the health of our communities,” said Joan Higginbotham, Lowe’s director of community relations. “We look forward to inspiring more people to join us so that we can continue to make our communities better places to live.”
Keep America Beautiful affiliates and partnering organizations received nearly 245 Lowe’s grants the past three years. Through this partnership, nearly 1 million flowers and bulbs have been planted; more than 225 playgrounds and recreational areas have been built or revitalized; and more than 1,000 community gardens have been planted.
Over the course of the partnership, Keep America Beautiful and Lowe’s have brought together more than 40,000 volunteers and 1,000 Lowe’s Heroes. Together, they’ve contributed 196,000 volunteer hours to improve their respective communities.
Lowe’s also provides support as a national sponsor of Keep America Beautiful’s flagship program, the Great American Cleanup, which takes place in 20,000 communities from coast to coast. This national program engages on average 4 million volunteers and participants who take action to create positive change and lasting impact.