Project Works to Revitalize Minnesota's State Arbor Day

Minnesota's sate Arbor Day will be celebrated on April 29th this year and many Fourth Grade Foresters all across Minnesota will roll up their sleeves and plant a tree. The kids will become members of Fourth Grade Foresters of Minnesota. The project goal is to help revitalize a remarkable idea -- observation of Arbor Day in America's schools. Fourth graders at St. Raphael Elementary School, St Anthony Elementary School, St Paul Lutheran Elementary School, St Mary's Elementary School, Washington Elementary School, Sleepy Eye Elementary School and Springfield Elementary School in Sleepy Eye, Springfield and New Ulm will be receiving 355 trees to take home and plant.

Dick Nesvold of SouthPoint Federal Credit Union who sponsored the trees said, "This is a wonderful project to get your people aware of our environment so they can begin to do their part to help preserve our plant."

"This project is made possible because community business people like SouthPoint Federal Credit Union covered the cost of each of the individually packaged evergreen trees, so that there is no cost to the students, the teachers, the school, or the taxpayer," Debra Ersch, Cofounder of the Fourth Grade Foresters Project stated. "It's a wonderful way to show support for the community, education and the environment."

Fourth Grade Foresters USA was created to provide a simple and inexpensive way for any individual, business or organization with to send the 4th Grade students at an elementary school home with a tree of their own to plant and care for. Each fourth grader receives an individually packaged 12" - 18" evergreen tree seedling sealed in a polybag by workers with disabilities. Each package will include information about Minnesota's Arbor Day, planting and care instructions, and the name of its sponsor.

Now in the era of global warming and air pollution, tree planting is even more important than ever. Trees take carbon dioxide (CO2) our of the atmosphere to help reduce warming and clean the air we breathe. Planting trees is a simple, inexpensive and easy way to address the problem.

The trees are packaged in workshops that employee adults with disabilities through the Free Tress and Plants project. Started in February, 2004, the www.freetreesandplants.com project obtains from growers and nurseries some of the millions of unsold plants that are destroyed each year, hires workers with disabilities to package them and then sends the plants to anyone who orders them at www.freetreesandplants.com. Consumers simply pay for processing and shipping costs.