Worcester Tree Initiative
508-852-6400
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Tree Give-Away

May 18th
10:00-12:00  
  West Boylston Middle/High School 125 Crescent St  West Boylston 
Please come and get a tree. If you would like a specific tree, please register online before hand. 

For the On-Line registration form click here 
Note that if you are ordering trees for the June 1st give-away all orders need to be in by Tuesday the 28th.

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Tree Give-Away Success

    Tree give-aways are off to a great start this year, the first two in May were held at the RE/Store on Gold Star Blvd and at the Clark University Softball Fields on Knowles Road.  Over 100 trees including  dogwoods, red buds, cherry trees went to good homes in the Asian Longhorned Beetle Quarantined Zone.
 
    In the give-aways to come, we hope for many more people in the ALB zone (Worcester, Holden Shrewsbury, Boylston, West Boylston, and Auburn) to come, get trained to properly plant a tree,  then receive free trees from us so that we can reach our goal of replanting 30,000 in the ALB Zone trees by 2014. 

Neighborhood Tree Stewards

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The Worcester Tree Initiative coordinates educational workshops as part of our "Neighborhood Tree Stewards" program.  Neighborhood Tree Stewards volunteer to help sustain the urban forest in Worcester and surrounding towns.  We are currently recruiting "Stewards" to help water the newly planted city trees. If you would like to sign up to become a Neighborhood Tree Steward, please contact us at staff@treeworcester.org. 

 

About the Worcester Tree Initiative 

The Worcester Tree Initiative is a private, non-profit orginazation whose goal is to reforest the City of Worcester and surrounding communities. It was initiated in January 2009 by Congressman Jim McGovern and Lt. Governor Tim Murray with the intent of planting 30,000 trees in Worcester and surrounding towns in the next five years.

The Initiative is a public and private partnership between the city of Worcester, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the US Department of Agriculture, and many non-profits, businesses and residents of Central Massachusetts. The program includes intensive outreach, education and training, and long term tracking to realize significant environmental and quality of life improvements with this community based approach. We are using trees grown at local nurseries and as a result our stock will vary based on availability.

WTI's Wish List

Pickup truck with cab (for watering truck)
Watering tank
Shovels
Work gloves
Safety goggles  
Cases of water bottles for the field 
5 gallon water buckets (we need at least 100) 
Laptop

Give a Gift of a Tree!

For a donation of $60, the Worcester Tree Initiative will plant a tree in Worcester, Holden, West Boylston, Boylston or Shrewsbury. For every $60 you contribute, we will send a beautiful gift card to your special person. You may make your gift by mail. Checks should be made out to Greater Worcester Community Foundation – Worcester Tree Initiative Fund and mailed to Worcester Tree Initiative, PO Box 2874, Worcester MA 01613. A contribution of any amount will help to reforest the Worcester area. For questions call: (508) 852-6400.



Young newly planted trees need to be watered 20 - 30 gallons a week.
How to water:
Water slowly and deeply--do not turn the hose on full blast. You can use a five gallon bucket with holes in the bottom to slowly water, place it in the tree pit and fill it up with your hose, refilling when necessary. If you don't want to do that you can turn your hose on a slow stream and place it in the tree pit. Gator bags on street trees are filled through slit in top and let water seep out over a few days. Feel free to fill these gator bags up with water if they are empty. Two groups of Youth are working this summer watering the trees. Five Young Adult Foresters working in partnership with Worcester Youth Center. The five Young Adult Foresters are funded through Massport Summer Jobs with District Attorney's office and Probation Department, Main South CDC also helping out with the funding. Residents can help by watering the street trees in front of their own home, allowing YAFs to use your water to water street trees (by hooking up to the outside water spigot on your house), or volunteering to water trees beyond your immediate neighborhood. Businesses are asked to water the street trees in front of their business. Check out the WTI's PSA on watering trees starring our very own, Ruth Seward! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOHkate7Rqc

Steering Committee

Lt. Gov Tim Murray
Congressman Jim McGovern

Colleen Abrams; Resident, Town of Holden
Paul Belsito, Assumption College
Deb Cary; Mass Audubon Society
State Senator Harriette Chandler; First Worcester District
Rob Diaz; Small Business Owner
Margaret Doyle, Principal, Thorndyke Rd. School
Tony Enonomou, City Councilor District 1
Allen Fletcher; Greater Worcester Land Trust
Jack Foley; Worcester School Committee/Clark University
Jay Garree; Boy Scouts 
Robyn Kennedy, Lt. Governor's Chief of Staff
Marie Morse; Principal, Union Hill School
Colin Novick; Greater Worcester Land Trust
Mayor Joe O'Brien; City of Worcester
Selectman Ken O'Brien; Town of Holden
Kevin O'Sullivan; Mass Bio Initiative
Phil Palmieri; City Councilor District 2
Steve Fischer; Regional Environmental Council
Selectman Chris Rucho; Town of West Boylston
Kathleen Polanowicz, District Director
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