Tag: kids

2023 Annual Impact Report

We are so thrilled to share our impact, progress, and appreciation with you in our 2023 Annual Impact Report!

Neighborhood Forest Recognized as Top Tree Planting Charity

Neighborhood Forest has been recognized as a top tree-planting charity by Impactful Ninja – a leading influencer and content creator centered around sustainable living and climate action.

Neighborhood Forest has been recognized as a distinguished tree-planting charity as well as a leader in environmental education.

We are honored and touched to be named alongside many other great organizations doing important work in the world, including Living Lands and Waters, The Jane Goodall Institute, and The International Tree Foundation.

We know and believe that this recognition will continue to help us reach more children as we spread joy, beauty, and goodness through tree planting and youth engagement.

Thank you, Impactful Ninja!!

2023 Tree Species Details

Please use our Downloadable Species Guide to view the Earth Day 2023 Tree Species!

We aim to provide native trees in all of the areas we serve and a diversity of trees each year.

Click here to learn more about why Native Trees are so important!

 

Coordinator Program Guide – Guidelines & FAQs

Hello Coordinators!

Please click through our Coordinator Program Guide below to learn more about our program and answer some commonly asked questions.

Thank you for helping us spread joy, beauty, and goodness!

Parent FAQs

Click here for a downloadable version of the Parent FAQs

What kind of tree will we be getting?

      • Neighborhood Forest aims to provide native trees in all the regions we serve. Last year we gave away 11 different species. We tend to provide species on a state-by-state basis and like to provide different species each year to provide variety and diversity of trees.

When will my tree be arriving and will it be shipped directly to my address?

      • We aim to have the trees arrive to your school, library, or youth group leader in time for Earth Day. If you are ordering your free tree from your child’s school, your child should bring the tree home when it is distributed at their school around Earth Day (April 22).
      • If you are ordering your tree through your library, you will need to pick up your tree from your library when it arrives. You are responsible for contacting your library and arranging for the pick up of your tree around Earth Day.
      • While the library should be contacting you about pick up details, we encourage you to be proactive. If you are ordering your tree through a scout group, we encourage you to contact the scout leader about pick up details around Earth Day.

How do I care for my tree to ensure that it grows and thrives?

      • We encourage you to walk through this tree planting guide for best practices on caring for your tree.

What if I don’t have a yard or place to plant my tree? Can I plant my tree in a pot and leave it indoors?

    • Ideally, you want to plant your tree in the ground, outside, in a permanent location where you can watch and care for its growth. These trees are accustomed to being outside in the elements, so if you do keep it in a pot for a year or two, be sure to keep it outside.
    • We are in the process of developing an alternative indoor plant program for kids that do not have a yard or live in apartments. We hope to make this option available in the near future!
    • In the meantime, if you do not have a yard to plant your tree, we encourage you to plant your tree with a willing friend or family member who has a yard.

How does Neighborhood Forest fund all of these free trees?

How can I donate?

Neighborhood Forest

5244 Zenith Ave South

Minneapolis, MN 55410

    • All donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law and are not an exchange for any goods or services.

How can I offset my carbon footprint through Neighborhood Forest?

      • The average American consumes 7 trees per year in wood and paper products and emits 20 tons of CO2 annually. One tree will sequester 1 ton of CO2 in its lifetime (on average). So, to go carbon neutral via trees, a person has to plant 20 trees for every year they are on the planet. Factoring in estimated tree survival rates and annual wood and paper consumption, we recommend planting 50 trees per year per person to offset an individual’s tree and carbon footprint – thus the 50 trees x $5 = $250 / year or $25 / month membership cost calculation.

How can I get connected?

Updated 7/28/23

Neighborhood Forest Inaugurates Neighborhood Forest Day – April 26th

April 26th, 2022

Happy Neighborhood Forest Day!

This year, Neighborhood Forest introduced April 26th as Neighborhood Forest Day – A Festival of (Free) Trees celebrating kids, trees, and the planet.

Neighborhood Forest Day falls in the heart of Earth Week (April 22-30) – four days after Earth Day (April 22) and a few days before Arbor Day (which is observed on the last Friday in April).

Neighborhood Forest Day is a day of celebration – recognizing the goodness and generosity of humanity – a celebration of abundance, unity, connection, and joy.

Trees have a way of bringing people together. Neighborhood Forest is serving people in red states and blue states, rural and urban settings, and people from every race, religion, age group, and socio-economic demographic represented in our country.

We don’t discriminate on any basis. Just as the tree provides shade to all who seek it, Neighborhood Forest provides free trees to all children.

This Earth Week, Neighborhood Forest gave 40,000 kids in 48 states (including Canada) their very own tree to plant. Since 2010, we have reached over 250,000 families, over 900 institutions, and given over 90,000 kids their very own tree to plant!

Our goal is to reach every child in North America and eventually the world.

Join us in our celebration!

Your Trees Are Coming Soon!

April 11th, 2022

Dear Parents, Grand Parents, Guardians, Volunteers, Coordinators, Families, and Children,

Your trees are coming soon!

You are one of 30,000+ individuals that will be planting a tree during Earth Week (April 22-30). Most of you will be planting this tree with your child(ren) and / or family and friends.

Together, with your help and efforts, 40,000 trees will be planted in 48 states (including Canada) in just a couple of weeks!

You are part of one of the largest coordinated, volunteer, urban / residential tree planting projects – involving children – in North America!

We are thrilled that you are participating!

This email contains important information about your trees, including

1) Arrival information – trees will be available to you sometime during Earth Week (April 22-30). The Neighborhood Forest Coordinator at your school, library, youth group, or organization will be in touch with you about pick-up / send-home details as we get closer to Earth Day (April 22). If you do not hear from them or do not receive your trees by April 28th, please contact them and / or us to ensure that you receive your tree(s).

2) Species details – check out the 9 beautiful species we are shipping to different states and provinces across the continent! We aim to provide native trees in all the regions we serve.

3) Planting and Care Instructions – we are very pleased to have partnered with NuMinds Enrichment to create this lovely online, kid-friendly, engaging tutorial on planting and caring for your tree.

4) STEAM Curriculum – NuMinds has also created this wonderful 6-lesson “Science of Trees” curriculum (Grades K through 6+) to augment and enrich the tree planting and learning experience. Each purchase of the curriculum will fund 4 free trees for children next year!

5) The Neighborhood Forest Board Game – the geniuses at NuMinds have also created this amazing, new, original Neighborhood Forest Board Game! Fun for the whole family and / or classroom. This game takes participants on a journey of planting and growing their own Neighborhood Forest. With each purchase of the board game, you get the “Science of Trees” curriculum and 8 kids get free trees next year!

6) Share a picture on our Facebook page! Want to thank us? Please share photos of your kids with their trees – we love seeing and sharing the photos, which will eventually add to our growing library of “then and nows“. Thank you!

We are giving away 9 different species of trees in 48 states (including Canada) this year:

Douglas-fir
(Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming)

Eastern Redcedar
(Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio)

Hackberry
(Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washington DC)

Incense Cedar
(Arizona, California, Nevada)

Red Maple
(Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia)

Southern Magnolia
(Texas)

Tamarack
(Alaska, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Wisconsin)

White Birch
(Massachusetts, Pennsylvania)

White Spruce
(Ontario, Canada)

These are all beautiful trees!

Pictures and descriptions of each species here.

Some key points to keep in mind:

1) Keep your tree in a cool, dark place (refrigerated for those in northern states) until you plant it

2) Protect your newly planted tree from wildlife and lawnmowers with a little fence and netting

3) Put some mulch around it

4) Water generously or in accordance with recommendations for your particular tree species

5) Please take a picture of your child(ren) with your newly planted tree (and share on our Facebook page, if you are comfortable) – watching your tree and kids grow together is a magical joy!

Finally, I want to say that these trees are small and vulnerable. Not all of them survive and that is Ok. It is a part of life and a part of the tree planting process. We do our part and then we have to leave the rest to Mother Nature. A lost tree seedling might break a child’s heart and there is a great lesson in this too. We mustn’t give up! We will keep sending you trees each year and we will keep on planting them.

I had to plant many trees before this one finally made it and reached maturity!

Thank you, again, for participating in Neighborhood Forest’s 13th annual free tree giveaway. We are excited to see all the smiling faces with their little trees!

Our program is made possible through generous donations and sponsorships. Check out our growing community of sponsors.

If you, an organization, a business, or someone you know would like to sponsor our program, please contact us or go to our GoFundMe campaign. We still have some funds to raise!

Thank you!

Happy Earth Day (4/22)
Happy Neighborhood Forest Day (4/26)
Happy Arbor Day (4/30)

Happy Earth Week (4/22-4/30)

Happy Spring!

Warmly,
Vikas and The Neighborhood Forest Team

Neighborhood Forest Receives $125,000 Matching Grant

Vincent Argiro, philanthropist, entrepreneur, poet, and sailor, has recently offered a matching grant of up to $125,000 for Neighborhood Forest’s Earth Day 2022 free tree giveaway. For every dollar raised between now and Earth Day (April 22), Vincent will match, dollar-for-dollar, up to $125,000 in donations. By reaching this goal, Neighborhood Forest will be able to give a record 50,000 children their very own tree to plant on Earth Day 2022.

Neighborhood Forest is honored and delighted to have Vincent Argiro as our founding member of the Board of Trustees.

Vincent has long had a deep love for trees and the planet, beginning with the first Earth Day in 1970 when he was just 14 years old. Since joining the board of Neighborhood Forest in 2019, he has single-handedly committed to giving over 40,000 children their very own tree to plant on Earth Day.

His attention and guidance to our program have helped it reach new heights of possibility and scale. Vincent has a long track record of creating vision and bringing that vision to life. In the late 1980s, he founded a revolutionary medical software company (Vital Images, Inc., now part of Canon Medical Informatics), which ended up touching the lives of millions of patients across the world by revolutionizing aspects of radiological diagnosis and surgical planning.

Vincent’s connection to Neighborhood Forest’s roots go deep. He met Vikas Narula, Neighborhood Forest Founder, when Vikas was in high school. He watched from afar as Vikas worked alongside fellow college students at Maharishi International University (MIU) to plant thousands of trees through the hands of children across southeast Iowa in the early 1990s.

After graduating from MIU with a degree in computer science, Vikas joined Vincent’s software company and worked there for 11 years. During his tenure, they formed an endearing mentor-mentee relationship that was often coined by other colleagues as “V2V”.

Years later, after going their separate ways, Vincent and Vikas have rejoined forces to touch the lives of millions of children with trees.

Vincent’s incredible generosity and commitment to our kids and planet continues to inspire and humble us.

To contribute to The Vincent Argiro / Neighborhood Forest Free Tree Matching campaign please visit: https://lnkd.in/gfwR4es