Greening New Jersey, one tree at a time.
Plainfield, NJ (March 20, 2018) – TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, and the Arbor Day Foundation today announced that the NJ Tree Foundation will receive a $20,000 grant from TD Green Streets to support innovative urban greening and tree-planting projects in low- to moderate-income areas of the Plainfield, NJ community.
I met Carlos in the fall of 2008. He was coming off a stint in state prison and was in Logan Hall, a halfway house in Newark. I was struck by his good attitude and quirky sense of humor. I hired him to work for our Green Streets Program, where we train and pay men under parole supervision to plant trees and construct green infrastructure projects. After a few weeks of planting trees together, Carlos nicknamed me Master Ip after Bruce Lee’s trainer. Read more
I first met teachers Ms. Monika Hannemann and Ms. Monikk Gray in 2013 when Ms. Hannemann applied for trees at Weequahic High School in Newark. Ms. Hannemann and Ms. Gray were instrumental in turning a once barren Chancellor Avenue into a shady tree-lined street. The Weequahic High School planting event had a significant impact on their students, the neighborhood, and the women themselves.
When Ms. Hannemann began teaching at University High School, she saw a need for trees there too. In the spring of 2017, we planted 15 trees with students to line the front facade of their school and the back courtyard. As Principal Mendez mentioned, the hedge maples, ginkgos, and tree lilacs “will grow alongside the students who planted them.”
It is incredibly inspiring to work alongside passionate teachers and young adults who are thrilled to help green their neighborhoods. At the most recent planting at University High School, Ms. Hannemann described the importance of planting trees with youth. “I love interacting with students outside of a traditional classroom setting, working towards a common goal. Some students who do not excel as much in the classroom stood out as leaders at this tree planting,“ she explained with a look of pride.
This beautiful history of greening Newark’s schools and connecting urban youth to trees is only possible with your donations. Please help us continue to inspire youth and adults alike while making our cities greener by donating to the NJ Tree Foundation this December.
#GivingTuesday is a holiday for being generous. Please celebrate with us this year! Your donation to the NJ Tree Foundation will help us plant more trees in 2018, bringing shade and beauty to New Jersey cities with low tree canopy coverage. Your donation will help us train and employ men under parole supervision, giving them an opportunity to learn green industry job skills as they re-enter society. Your donation will help us improve the environment and quality of life for New Jersey residents, making our state better one tree at a time.
If you are participating in #GivingTuesday, feel free to post a picture with our customized #UNselfie template and tell others why you are supporting the NJ Tree Foundation!
NJ Tree Foundation Selected to Partner with TD Tree Days to Enhance Urban Forest and the Community by Planting Trees in Four New Jersey Cities
October 1, 2017 – Jackson, NJ– TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, has selected the NJ Tree Foundation to participate in TD Tree Days, a community-based program that expands urban forests and green spaces in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods. Staff and volunteers of the NJ Tree Foundation will join local employees of TD Bankto plant a total of 225 trees throughout four New Jersey cities. On October 11th, 35 trees will be planted at Freedom Village in Westhampton. On October 13th, 35 trees will be planted at Weequahic Park in Newark. On October 25th and 27th, respectively, 80 and 75 trees will be planted at Washington Park in Jersey City and Judge Robert Johnson Park in Camden.
“We‘re proud to partner with the NJ Tree Foundation during TD Tree Days to nurture the community and the environment from the ground up,” said Joseph Doolan, TD Bank’s Head of Environmental Affairs. “Trees do much more than beautify our communities – they produce oxygen; improve air quality and slow climate change by reducing carbon emissions, airborne pollutants and smog; provide cooling shade to reduce energy costs; and enhance the quality of life.”
Now in its seventh year, TD Tree Days will bring together more than 1,000 community members and TD employees from September through early November to plant approximately 850 trees in 21 communities across the United States. TD Tree Days will be managed with support from The Arbor Day Foundation. Founded in 2010, the program has made a significant positive impact for communities and the environment as TD’s flagship volunteer and urban greening program, planting more than 285,000 trees and shrubs, primarily in Canada and the U.S.
The NJ Tree Foundation is one of 18 organizations in the United States that was chosen to participate in TD Tree Days through an application process. “We are very excited to implement these high-impact TD Tree Days projects. The new trees planted will provide shade, beauty, and wildlife habitat, as well as improve the environment overall in New Jersey,“ explained Lisa Simms, Executive Director for the NJ Tree Foundation. She continued, “Trees are especially needed in our urban areas, where they remove pollutants from the air and reduce problematic stormwater runoff.”
In addition to Camden, Jersey City, Newark, and Westhampton, NJ, TD Tree Days events are scheduled in these communities this fall: Delray Beach, Miami and Tampa, Florida; Mattapan, Massachusetts; Auburn, Maine; Detroit, Michigan; Asheville and Wilmington, North Carolina; the Bronx and Brooklyn, New York; Chester and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Warwick, Rhode Island; Columbia and Greenville, South Carolina; and Alexandria, Virginia.
Follow TD Tree Days on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US #TDTreeDays and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank.
About NJ Tree Foundation
The NJ Tree Foundation is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees in New Jersey’s most underserved neighborhoods, where the need is greatest. Through tree planting, volunteerism, and partnerships, the NJ Tree Foundation assists numerous communities in improving their environment and quality of life. Since its inception in 1998, the NJ Tree Foundation has planted 204,360 trees across the state. Learn more at www.njtreefoundation.org.
About TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®
TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 9 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,200 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth®, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.
TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol “TD”. To learn more, visit www.td.com.
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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.
ATTENTION Newark residents! On June 10, the NJ Tree Foundation will conduct our TreeKeeper Workshop in Newark, teaching about young tree care. This workshop will include an indoor classroom session and an outdoor hands on component. Read more
April 8, 2017 – Camden, NJ – Today, Saturday, April 8th, the NJ Tree Foundation is celebrating the official season opening of the Circuit and we ask you to join us! Did you know the Circuit is one of America’s largest trail networks and it runs through your backyard? There are several trails in Camden connecting to Philadelphia and beyond. Read more
April 7, 2017 – Newark, NJ – The NJ Tree Foundation kicks off its volunteer-led tree planting season today, Friday April 7th, with an event in Newark that will plant 39 trees at the Oliver Street School. Volunteers from the school and community will come together to plant seedless sweetgum, tree lilac, and hedge maple trees to beautify the school. Read more
Hey volunteers! Are you ready to get outside, dig in the dirt, and help beautify urban communities with trees? We are, and we hope you’ll join us! This spring, the NJ Tree Foundation has a full schedule of exciting community tree planting events in Camden, Newark, and Gloucester City. We’re looking for dedicated volunteers like you to help make these events possible.
In Camden, we’re co-hosting the State Arbor Day Tree Planting on Friday, April 28th. We’re also hosting a large 90-tree event on Saturday, May 6th at the old waterfront prison site, soon to be known as Cooper’s Poynt Waterfront Park. These two events need volunteers.
In Newark, we have 10 tree planting events scheduled all over Brick City! Don’t miss out on the fun as we work with the City of Newark, residents, and community organizations to make a difference through tree planting.
In Gloucester City, we’re hosting our first-ever community tree planting event on Earth Day – Saturday, April 22nd! Join us as we plant trees along the 900 block of Monmouth Street with residents, the local Green Team, and the Tree Committee.
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Today’s Snapple Cap