Every so often, I like to make a philanthropic donation to an environmental group on behalf of the writers and readers of Eco Child’s Play.  This month, I have selected TreePeople for our small donation.

TreePeople is a nonprofit organization that has been serving the Los Angeles area for over three decades. Simply put, our work is about helping nature heal our cities. We offer sustainable solutions to urban ecosystem problems, focusing on three areas:

1. Training and supporting communities to plant and care for trees
2. Educating school children and adults about the environment
3. Working with government agencies on critical water issues

I selected TreePeople because of their work in schools.

2. Educating school children and adults about the environment
– We have one of the nation’s largest environmental education programs and we connect communities and families to the nature that surrounds them.
– Over 300 schools in L.A. County participate in our programs – that’s over 200,000 students each year, with 10,000 kids coming to our headquarters in Coldwater Canyon Park for Eco-tours.
– We’re contracted with the County of Los Angeles to deliver Generation Earth, a program that supports teens to complete environmental projects.

What I am especially drawn to is their efforts to plant fruit trees on urban school campuses.

Since 1973, TreePeople has been connecting communities with trees. Starting in 1984, when TreePeople added the distribution of fruit trees to this mission, more than 80,000 fruit trees have been planted in backyards, on school campuses and in community gardens throughout Los Angeles County.

I’ve personally helped plant four fruit trees on our schools campus with children.  I can’t wait until a future fall when the kids return to school to find apples and plums growing right on the playground for their recess snack.

Fruit trees planted on school grounds are an investment in the future health of the student population.

Planting fruit trees is only one small way TreePeople supports environmental education.