When you made the choice this year to join us in spreading peace through planting trees, did you know how much we would need some more peace? Did you find yourself taking a break, going outside, and letting the trees calm you down? They’re generous that way. Just like you.
We at TreeFolks welcomed the beginning of planting season in Central Texas, not just for the cool breeze that seemed so reluctant to come, but for the “tree-peace” that comes over us when we join together to plant and nurture new trees.
We have all been concerned about the pressure of development on our water quality and availability, and the effects of more pavement on our summer heat records. We’ve also been concerned about our communities. So, we expanded our call to volunteers across Central Texas to help us plant with neighbors, community gardens, faith groups, and affordable housing groups. We expanded our trainings for citizen foresters, teachers, and community groups. This is how we help our communities heal and restore the forests of Central Texas.
With your help this year, TreeFolks:
- planted nearly 6,000 trees in Austin parks and greenbelts,
- gave away 4,400 trees to Austin residents,
- worked with 15 community groups to plant urban orchards,
- taught over 4,000 Austin residents how to care for their trees,
- completed our program to plant 2.2 million trees in Bastrop’s Lost Pines,
- began our work along the historic Blanco River to restore and repair her streamside forests.
We can help Central Texas continue to grow and recover its peaceful forests, but only with informed and caring supporters like you.
In 2017, we need to raise $800,000 to buy new trees for the Blanco River and Bastrop and to support tree planting and tree care education in the Austin area.
We will plant more than 200,000 seedlings along the banks of the Blanco River, and work with hundreds of families there and in Bastrop County to help recover from fire and flood. In Austin we will plant more than 5,000 seedlings and 300 container trees in parks and greenbelts, and deliver some 4,000 trees to Austin-area homeowners who will become stewards of our urban forest.
Finally, we will grow our education programming to help inform our neighbors about proper tree care and to nurture appreciation of nature’s wonders all around us. We are proud to be a trusted resource for tree care education in Central Texas.
We cannot do this work alone. Your investment in TreeFolks will help people see trees not only for their benefits of creating healthy air and water, but as a way to make new friendships, get to know our neighbors, and create the tree-peace that transcends our differences and brings us closer together.
You can help us make more tree-peace in Central Texas with an end of year donation. A tax-deductible gift to TreeFolks will take root and become oak trees along our hiking trails, pine seedlings carpeting burned earth, and cypress trees standing sentinel between the rivers and earth.
With more friends, more connections, and a lot more trees, we’ll all be better off.
Sincerely,
Thaïs Perkins
Executive Director
