September Tree Plantings in Camden

September marked the kick off of the Urban Airshed Reforestation Program’s (UARP) fall 2012 tree planting season! Thanks to incredible community partners, dedicated volunteers, and the highest quality trees, we were able to deliver some of our most exciting projects yet.

September 15th: 26 Trees with Fine Fare Supermarket and Residents of N. 21st Street (East Camden)
If you live in Camden, you know about Fine Fare Supermarket — the much-needed grocery store recently built on the corner of N. 21st and Federal Street in East Camden. What you probably don’t know is that one of the owners, Jose Merrano, is a man dedicated to his community. A resident himself, he heard of the opportunity for free trees and was excited to bring this resource to N. 21st Street. “Let’s plant trees along this entire block — it will be so beautiful,” he explained to UARP Director Jessica Franzini in the summer of 2012. After organizing for about two months, Jose had signatures for 26 trees along one block of N. 21st Street, including 10 at his new store.

September 22nd: 23 Trees with Residents of the 400 Block of Raritan Street (East Camden)
This planting was made possible thanks to word of mouth in Camden. Margarita Garcia, a life-long resident of Camden, was incredibly moved by a tree planting project performed in 2010 along the 1200 block of Jackson Street in the Whitman Park neigborhood. After receiving our contact information, she reached out: “I’d like trees for my block, and I already have 20 people interested.” Margarita wasn’t kidding! On September 22nd, we planted 21 beautiful trees in her neighborhood. UARP Director Jessica Franzini called the number of local children and families involved “impressive,” explaining “watching people join together to beautify their own neighborhood is one of the most enjoyable parts of this job, and it’s always rewarding when the kids are involved.”

September 29th: 15 Trees with Residents of the 1200 and 1300 Blocks of Morton Street (Whitman Park)
Family Life Outreach (FLO) Ministries is an organization in Whitman Park dedicated to improving lives for families and youth in their community. In addition to a youth summer camp program, they took an interest in the UARP during spring of 2012, planting their first round of trees in April. “Some may say they are just trees,” explained Reuel Robinson of FLO Ministries in an interview with the Courier Post in April, “but when I look at these trees, I see hope.” Well, the same was true for his many of his neighbors! They were knocking on his door and approaching him on the street asking for more trees. “I’d love to plant more trees in Whitman Park every year. It truly brings people together,” added Reuel of his fall tree planting event. Fifteen new trees now grace his community.

Big THANKS to our sponsors: USDA Forest Service, the William Penn Foundation, Camden SMART, Fran Zinni … and our in-kind donors: MAFCO Worldwide Corporation, United Water Camden, the City of Camden, the Camden Police Department, Fine Fare Supermarket, Residents of the 400 block of Raritan Street, and the Robinson Family 

Recognizing Exceptional Volunteers: Spring 2012

Every season, the NJ Tree Foundation is honored to work with 100’s of selfless, dedicated volunteers and residents who are all passionate about the same thing – trees! Through our Camden Urban Airshed Reforestation Program (UARP) and our Newark Renaissance Trees Program (NRTP), residents and volunteers join forces to plant large, 14-16 ft tall trees back into once treeless communities. These dedicated volunteers make the work look easy; transforming neighborhoods in a few short hours while still smiling!

This past spring there were a few volunteers who went the extra mile – attending several tree planting events, bringing family and friends, and being an overall advocate and leader for trees in the community! The NJ Tree Foundation would like to recognize the following volunteers through our Spring 2012 Volunteer Recognition Awards:

In Camden:                                                                         

John Lance                                  Ryan & Cynthia Ketner

Lamont Bivans                            Jordan Mankin

James Coulter                             The Kidds Family

The Romero Center

A Champion’s Heart

Unitarian Universalist Church of Cherry Hill

Adventure Aquarium “Fins for the Future”

In Newark:

Ada Caro                                      Christopher Reilly

Dave Robinson                          Madeline & Parker Ruiz

Razhan Campbell                      Wayne McDougall

Newark Girl Scout Troop #51027

St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Metuchen

Thank you to all who volunteered and continue to work with us to make a difference in these cities! We are looking forward to many more tree plantings together!

New Re-entry Training Program

This summer, we are starting a Landscaping & Maintenance training program for men under parole supervision. Three men will provide community service to our 9/11 Memorial – The Grove of Remembrance (Liberty State Park, Jersey City) and our Urban Nursery, in exchange for earning a certificate and job placement assistance. Trainees will learn:

Tree, shrub, perennial and weed identification.
Proper tree & shrub pruning.
Proper mulching.
Transplanting shrubs & perennials.
General landscape & nursery maintenance.

We are very excited about this new program!

Our Grove of Remembrance always needs maintenance!

Volunteer Spotlight: Wayne McDougall

Meet Wayne McDougall, one of our hard-working and dedicated volunteers in Newark! Wayne has donated 60 hours to volunteer and assist at Newark tree plantings and our Newark TreeKeepers program – attending nearly every event our organization has hosted in the city over the past nine months!  Wayne has helped to plant 220 new trees in eleven Newark neighborhoods and has become an invaluable planting expert for our program. His passion for trees has grown during this time and most recently, he became a Certified Newark TreeKeeper, one of thirteen in the city.

When asked by NJ Tree Foundation staff about his experience, Wayne told us, “Working with the NJ Tree Foundation has given me a sense of purpose – that I was really making a difference in the community and it was something I really enjoyed! I have learned so much about trees! I have always liked gardening, but now I look at trees in a whole new way. I look at trees as a source of energy and life. I am looking forward to volunteering more and bringing my family with me.”

We look forward to working with you and your family more, Wayne! Thank you for your time and energy; most importantly, thank you for being an inspiration to us and other volunteers!

Cooper Sprout Becomes Local People’s Garden

Thanks to a  $5,000 grant from the national nonprofit Alliance for Community Trees,  Cooper Sprouts Garden in Camden now has 15 new trees — 8 of which are FRUIT TREES! This site is now considered a local People’s Garden, part of the nationwide network of gardens supported by the USDA People’s Garden Initiative.

The Alliance for Community Trees (ACTrees) People’s Garden Grant Program is a new national initiative launched in 2012 to explore and deepen the connection between trees and urban agriculture. With support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, ACTrees has provided funding to 30 communities in 21 states to plant trees that produce fruit and nuts or provide shelter to community gardens.

“Trees are critical to healthy people and healthy communities,” said ACTrees Executive Director Carrie Gallagher. “We are excited to offer this opportunity to the NJ Tree Foundation to demonstrate locally that trees are an integral part of sustainable community agriculture.”

“Fruit trees are in such high demand in Camden,” explained Jessica Franzini, Program Director for the NJ Tree Foundation in Camden, “with this grant, we can finally begin meeting that need.” In Camden, only one supermarket serves over 70,000 people. “Camden is a food desert,” said Mike Devlin of the Camden City Garden Club.

On Saturday, April 28th – as the City of Camden’s official Arbor Day Celebration – 40 volunteers from the Cooper Lanning Civic Association, Cooper Hospital, the Camden Aquarium, Center for Family Services, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc, a Champion’s Heart and more dug holes, planted trees, and laid mulch at the Cooper Sprouts Garden. In just three hours, 15 new trees were planted! Photos are posted here.

For more information on ACTrees, please visit www.ACTrees.org, follow them on Twitter @alliance4trees, and like them on Facebook at facebook.com/AllianceforCommunityTrees.

Volunteer Events Posted!

Each year, over 1,000 volunteers donate their time, talents and muscle to plant trees in NJ, making a positive difference in communities. Join us this spring as we plant for a healthier, greener future!

Spring volunteer tree plantings are held in April and May, usually on Saturdays from 9am – noon. All events are rain or shine. We provide gloves, tools and a hands-on planting demonstration. Dress to get dirty and wear sturdy sneakers or boots! To see a full schedule of events near you, simply visit our Camden or Newark pages. Volunteers should sign up in advance.

 

State of NJ’s 62nd Arbor Day Celebration

The NJ Tree Foundation and the NJ Community Forestry Program will celebrate Arbor Day 2012 in Haddon Township, NJ. We are planting 150 large shade trees to beautify the streets of Haddon Township! Please join us!

Date: Friday, April 27, 2012

Time: 8:00 am until all the trees are planted

Place: Meet at West Crystal Lake Avenue and West Park Avenue, Haddon Township, NJ

This event is rain or shine! To register to volunteer, please contact Todd Wycoff at  todd.wyckoff@dep.state.nj.us

 

The NJ Envirothon

This year’s NJ Envirothon – A Natural Resources Problem Solving Competition for High School Students – will be held at:

Camp Sacajawea in Farmingdale 242 Adelphia Road Farmingdale, Monmouth County, New Jersey on Saturday May 5, 2012. The environmental issue is “Nonpoint Source Pollution/Low Impact Development”

The New Jersey Envirothon competition is a one-day event that takes place near the end of the school year. Teams are tested on environmental topics through hands-on interactive problem-solving at five testing stations. Test questions may cover any information in the study guide and suggested resource materials or web links. The contest consists of hands-on questions along with some true/false, multiple choice and fill-in-the-blanks. Students have 30 minutes at each station. Team presentations last 10 minutes. The team that best demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of natural resources, as well as teamwork and communication skills, moves on to represent New Jersey in the Canon Envirothon competition which is North America’s Largest High School Environmental Education Competition. This multi-day event further tests the team’s understanding of the environment and involves teams from all regions of the United Statesand Canada.

If you are interested in volunteering time to staff the Forestry testing station, please contact Bill Brash at: forester82@aol.com

 


Camden Greenways Stewardship Training

Join us for the first Camden Greenway’s Trail Network Stewardship Workshop!

Featuring these local experts:
– Mike Hogan, South Jersey Land and Water Trust
– Fred Stine, Delaware RiverKeeper
– Jessica Franzini, NJ Tree Foundation

Learn how to care for your local trails and parks!

Date: Saturday, February 4th
Time: 9:30am to 12:30pm
Where: Cathedral Hall at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception
642 Market Street, Camden
* Parking provided.
RSVP: To Maria Tranguch of the NJ Conservation Foundation at mariat@njconservation.org or (856) 342-6523.

This event is open to the public and free of charge. Refreshments will be provided.