Students and staff from Bruin Point Elementary gathered outside the school Tuesday to watch, learn and volunteer as staff members from TreeUtah of Salt Lake City planted a Canadian Choke Cherry tree at the school as part of its 2014 Fall Tree Planting Grant Program.
TreeUtah is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to tree planting and education. Each year, it tries to plant 5,000 trees and this year it has already planted 7,000. The group seeks to educate people about the environment and social benefits that trees provide. TreeUtah has planted more than 325,000 trees since 1990 with the help over 125,000 volunteers around Utah.
The Community Tree Planting grant program from TreeUtah is designed to provide financial, logistical and volunteer support for community tree planting projects outside the urban Wasatch Front. The program aims to help communities to plant trees with the help of local volunteers.
Planting coordinator Nate Orbock and education coordinator Emily Mulligan along with TreeUtah’s mascot Carrie Cottonwood spoke to the students about how trees help the environment.
After Orbock placed the tree in the ground, each student and the Bruin Point Bear mascot took a handful of dirt and placed it in the hole around the tree.
The students hugged, high-fived and had photos taken with Carrie Cottonwood and the Bruin Point Bear before heading back to their classrooms.
For more information about TreeUtah or to donate or apply for the Tree Planting Grant Program, go to www.treeutah.org.
