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The Organizing Committee:
Front row: Cindy Robinson, Colin Creasey, Susan Wadsworth
Middle row: Dawn Farara, Willa Harris, Julie MacKinlay
Back row: Cameron McIntosh, Christine Guenette, Ross Gladwell, Bob Kawano,
Doug Shaw, Robert Roszell
Missing: Marshall Buchanan, Susan Ingram, Lea Ray
Our entire group meets on a monthly basis in Scarborough. Each individual brings their specific knowledge and expertise to the group. Take a look at our committees:
Are you a hands-on type of person? Don't mind a bit of physical exertion and some dirt under your fingernails? Then the Site Preparation Committee may be for you!
This Committee gears up in January and February of each year and intensifies in the 3 to 4 weeks before planting day. While there is some preparatory telephone and planning work involved, much of the efforts of Site Prep volunteers are concentrated in the final weeks, preparing the planting site for all the excited tree planters who will attend our event.
You'll help make the following necessary arrangements:
- Ensure that the site is properly staked and marked before planting day by setting up signs, taping off planting areas, and marking hazardous zones such as railway tracks
- Make sure there is plenty of comfort for all the participants includes organizing food and drink, washroom spaces, musical entertainment and more
- Arrange to have the necessary tools in place for planters such as buckets, shovels, and maps
- Coordinate the flow of traffic on the big day this can include setting up directional and parking signs, assisting with parking control and taking necessary police, fire, and ambulance precautions
If you can afford to donate your time and energy in late winter to early spring by helping us gear up the physical site for planting, please let us know. Even small contributions of your time help us out in a big way!
The greatest contribution to our success is the support of thousands of volunteers! Each spring, lots of people from different walks of life pitch in to plant and protect thousands of trees. Without their support, we could never succeed in protecting the Rouge Valley as much as we do.
But we also need financial support to enable us to buy the trees, tree guards, mulch and other equipment needed to complete a planting not to mention the food, refreshments and entertainment provided on planting day!
The role of the Fundraising Committee is to connect with local businesses, foundations, agencies and individuals who are interested in providing funding either in cash or in kind (supplying materials or equipment). More specifically, our fundraisers:
- Help determine the needs of the year's operation
- Develop strategies for raising the funds
- Maintain contact with existing sponsors, informing them of continuing activities
- Identify and contact potential new sponsors
- Prepare and make presentations to those corporately responsible for making sponsorship grants
The people we contact appreciate the work that we do, and are ready and willing to help. Businesses today believe in giving back to the communities they serve, and 10,000 Trees is a perfect match for those looking to support local environmental efforts.
If you would like to get involved in these activities, and help come up with interesting and fun ways to raise funds, please contact us.
If you have a few free hours over the bleak winter months, you might enjoy helping out our Volunteer Committee. The role of this committee is to spread the word about the upcoming planting to those who would love to lend a hand if they only knew where and when. Recruiting involves contacting potential volunteers via phone, fax, and flyer distribution. In January and February, they contact groups who need extra time to plan their participation, such as Scouts and Guides, environmental groups, local churches and schools. In March, notices are sent out to libraries and we launch the mass mailing to all our previous volunteers.
If it sounds appealing to be doing something concrete about conservation when the ground is still frozen and everyone else is dreaming about spring, please contact us!
The Landscape Committee for 10,000 Trees plays a very extensive role in the event. The first task is working with local governments to review and select future planting sites. Recently the committee has developed a five-year planting plan. This first step is crucial many factors such as site size, neighbors, current occupants and environmental parameters must be thoroughly reviewed when accepting a site for planting. With our forester's recommendations, the Landscape Committee turns the site plans into reality.
The committee then places the order for the new trees! Based on a variety of recommended tree species, the order is sent out for tender to approximately ten tree suppliers. Once these quotes return, a meeting is held to determine the best suppliers. We choose several different suppliers to ensure genetic diversity and guaranteed delivery of any one species of tree or shrub.
Preparing the site for planting is ongoing throughout the winter, as many bulky items such as habitat structures, mulch and compost can only be delivered when the ground is frozen. Orders are received and reviewed by us on the day prior to the public's arrival. All of the saplings are then temporarily planted or "heeled in" so that they don't dry out before the public arrives. Each species of tree is designated for a specific area of the site. Our planting managers are well prepared for this delivery day and ensure that the planting goes as smoothly as possible for the volunteers.
The planting managers oversee and train anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 volunteer planters. Trees are planted at a staggering rate of about 1,000 per hour! That is, if we have enough people involved.
The Landscape Committee, along with the forester and planting managers, acts as quality control managers on planting day to ensure all the trees are planted correctly. They ensure that proper maintenance and monitoring is completed on the site after the planting, including watering during drought and weed management. The course of action is reviewed shortly after the planting to decide where improvements can be made in the future. Then it starts all over again in September! If you would like to be part of this exciting and integral committee, please contact us.
We are always looking for new ways to get the message of 10,000 Trees out to the public! Can you help us? Are you skilled in marketing, media relations, or web communication? Then please contact us! Our group benefits from any exposure we can get that helps us reach our goals.
Testimonials
See what our volunteers have to say about 10,000 Trees
I started planting for 10,000 Trees with my dad, Jim MacDonald, almost 10 years ago. In the fall we went to all our planting sites to put together some pictures of the work we have done. On one site I could even climb the trees. and I found myself thinking "I helped to do this, to change nine (soon to be ten) empty fields into growing forests " - it was such an amazing feeling I've decided it's something I'd like to do for the rest of my life, so I plan to apply to forestry courses at college.
So, you haven't got nine forests under your belt and you're wondering why you should come to one of these planting things? Here are some great reasons: If you're a family a tree planting is a really cool "do it together" day. pack a picnic or enjoy one of our burgers, the kids will have a ball and wind up good and dirty. ( I always say you can't have any fun unless you get dirty) (parents really appreciate my advice). Then every so often have another family day and come and "hug" your trees. See which grow faster, the trees or the kids!
Even if you don't have kids, you'll have a great time. Come and forget about work, or school, and spend a day in the sun (unless it rains) and get some exercise. I invited a date to the last planting and we had a blast. We even had a water fight (which technically I won, as I had the bucket) and I wound up as mucky as the kids. If things go well, years later you could be walking through a forest you helped plant together. (Sigh... I find that idea so romantic.)
You may not discover you want to make a life of tree-planting, as I have, it may not give you the self-confidence it gave me, and you may have to hose the kids off before letting them into the car, but I guarantee it will give you at least one great day. I just wish I could guarantee the weather! (Then again, the year it rained was the most fun ever... but that's another story!)
-- By Alyssa "The Twerp" MacDonald
I really don't know a lot about trees. Let me state that up front. I know I like trees, nothing is more peaceful than standing in a forest in the
fall with the colored leaves falling all around you and soaking up the sights, sounds and smells of the autumn forest.
I joined 10,000 Trees for the Rouge Valley about 13 years ago (it was their 2nd annual planting). I had been a volunteer for Save the Rouge Valley System and I had heard about this offshoot of the SRVS where they had an annual tree planting. This sounded like fun. I went to my first meeting where they were trying to put together the committee for the upcoming year and somehow I managed to walk away from the meeting being the Chairperson for the Site Preparation committee. What had I gotten myself into? With lots of help, lots of phone calls and lots of suggestions, I managed to make it through that first year and nothing went terribly wrong. We had a great sunny, warm spring day, and all the trees got planted, which is what it's all about. That site is now a small forest in Markham and it's very exciting to go back there and check out "our trees".
Since then, I've helped on numerous plantings in the Scarborough / Pickering / Markham areas and I love going for a drive and checking out our sites to see how our trees are doing. We have lots of fun and the committee members are really a great bunch of people. I am proud to know each of them and we share a love for the outdoors that extends beyond trees. Not only have we seen our trees go, we've seen some of their kids grow, some have gotten married, some have had children of their own and some have moved away. And I'm sure each of us, as volunteers, has grown as well. Thanks guys - keep planting!
-- By Nancy Clements
I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about going to my first meeting of the 10,000 Trees for the Rouge Valley. I'm not really much of a "joiner" and even as an adult I find myself being a bit shy. A friend had asked me to come along for a meeting, just to see what the group was all about. My friend is a very down-to-earth person and while I didn't think she would belong to any far-out groups I did sometimes wonder what the "10K" she belonged to was really like. Would the members be "tree snobs"? Would I feel out of place? The only tree that I can recognize is species Christmas.
Well I didn't need to worry. At that first meeting I was treated as if I had been around forever there is no need to feel shy around these people. And I quickly found out that you don't need to be a tree expert to help out at 10K Trees it is essentially a group of non-expert folks who are doing the best they can to help make our spot on Earth just a little nicer for everyone and they are VERY happy to have help. What's great about the 10K group is that you are not pressured into anything whatever you are willing and able to do is great. And if you are lacking on the able part of that equation the rest of the group is patient and tries to help you out.
I have been a volunteer for just over a year now and have had fun working on some administrative stuff and the Website. 10,000 Trees for the Rouge Valley is a comfortable fit for me. If you have any interest in nature or the outdoors you might find it is the right fit for you. Why don't you drop by one of our meetings and see for yourself.
-- By Dawn Farara
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