Openlands offers trees and hands-on education to plant trees with you and your neighbors. Openlands TreePlanters Grants provide new trees to communities in the city of Chicago and the near south suburbs. The grants encourage resiliency both through planting trees and creating or reaffirming a network of neighbors working together. Communities are asked to organize themselves, find sufficient places to plant 15 – 40 trees, meet their neighbors, reach out and invite their elected officials, and create a successful event to learn about benefits of trees and the proper way to plant and maintain their new trees.
Openlands provides the education, organization, supplies, expertise, and quality control. On planting day, the Openlands Forestry Crew and certified TreeKeepers will provide tools, trees, mulch and training for volunteers. In return, we ask that you help gather your neighbors, all commit to work the full event (four hours), and keep caring for the trees for the next few years while they get established.
Why it's important
The lack of understanding about the benefits that the urban forest provides has made trees and tree care a low priority. There is a general lack of knowledge and implementation of best practices for urban tree care. New trees and healthy growing trees provide social, environmental, and economic benefits to communities. We need people and institutions to recognize these values so that the region acts to address threats to the urban forest created by reduced municipal budgets, poor maintenance, neglect, and new development, while planning for an urban forest that is resilient to insect/pests/diseases and climate change.
The Idea
Openlands offers trees and hands-on education to plant trees with you and your neighbors. Openlands TreePlanters Grants provide new trees to communities in the city of Chicago and the near south suburbs. The grants encourage resiliency both through planting trees and creating or reaffirming a network of neighbors working together. Communities are asked to organize themselves, find sufficient places to plant 15 – 40 trees, meet their neighbors, reach out and invite their elected officials, and create a successful event to learn about benefits of trees and the proper way to plant and maintain their new trees.
Openlands provides the education, organization, supplies, expertise, and quality control. On planting day, the Openlands Forestry Crew and certified TreeKeepers will provide tools, trees, mulch and training for volunteers. In return, we ask that you help gather your neighbors, all commit to work the full event (four hours), and keep caring for the trees for the next few years while they get established.
Why it's important
The lack of understanding about the benefits that the urban forest provides has made trees and tree care a low priority. There is a general lack of knowledge and implementation of best practices for urban tree care. New trees and healthy growing trees provide social, environmental, and economic benefits to communities. We need people and institutions to recognize these values so that the region acts to address threats to the urban forest created by reduced municipal budgets, poor maintenance, neglect, and new development, while planning for an urban forest that is resilient to insect/pests/diseases and climate change.
We finally made our tree planting project happen! 5th grade students, student group "Powerful Young Men," parent mentors, teachers, and volunteers from the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), worked together with OpenLands to make the Marquette School of Excellence community a cleaner, greener, and more beautiful space.
Funding from Change X purchased food and beverages for our tree planters and community clean-up students and volunteers, gloves and garbage grabbers for the community clean up, and materials for upkeep of the trees planted around the building.
Fifth grade students at Marquette Elementary participated in the community clean up and garden planting. Members of "Powerful Young Men" and OpenLands arborists planted 13 trees around the building. After this experience, students reflected on their experience, then brainstormed ideas to continue making positive change in the Marquette Community.
The ten trees provided to Marquette Elementary will be planted by the school's student council members in May at the Better World Day Event (May 1st or May 8). Student Council members planned out where the trees will be planted around the school.
Student Council members will invite members of the community to take part in this school beautification project.
Students decided that $150 will be for food, $100 will be for purchasing additional pots and plants to place at the front entrance of the school, and the remaining $250 will be for materials needed to plant the trees and maintenance of the trees.