The City of Valparaiso will celebrate National NeighborWoods Month with two tree-planting events, assembling more than 75 volunteers in the Keystone Commons and Jessee-Pifer neighborhoods to enhance the city’s urban forest. The planting events are among hundreds of similar events nationwide, marking National NeighborWoods Month by the Alliance for Community Trees (ACT), a national nonprofit organization committed to re-greening efforts from coast to coast.
“We’re excited to see neighbors come together to add new trees to our city. We lose a certain number of trees every year to things like emerald ash borer and efforts like this go a long way in replacing and diversifying the city’s tree inventory,” said Ann Brugos, leader of the city’s Shade Brigade effort, which is organizing the planting events. A division of the city’s Public Works department, Shade Brigade was established in 2012 as a way to gather volunteers to expand and preserve the city’s trees.
Together, Alliance for Community Trees organizations have planted and cared for over 15 million trees with help from more than 5 million volunteers. Valparaiso and the ACT support these efforts. “Trees add tremendous value to our community in terms of economic, environmental and health benefits,” said Mayor Jon Costas who supports tree planting and preservation efforts in Valparaiso. He shares the following key benefits of trees:
- Just three strategically placed trees can decrease utility bills by 50%
- Childhood asthma rates are lower in neighborhoods with healthy tree cover
- Planting trees at residential homes can increase property values by 10% or more
- An acre of trees every year absorbs the amount of carbon produced by driving a car 26,000 miles
Valparaiso’s tree planting events will be held from 9 am to noon on Sept. 28 at Jessee-Pifer (behind Benjamin Franklin Middle School) and Oct. 5 at Keystone Commons (on Campbell Street, just north of Valparaiso High School). More than 80 trees will be planted, including a combination of elm, oak, American hornbeam, redbud, yellowwood, yellow buckeye, Kentucky coffeetree, tulip tree, thornless honeylocust, dogwood, linden, and baldcypress. The event is sponsored by the Alliance for Community Trees; RLM, Inc.; 1st American Management Co. Inc.; Keystone Commons Homeowners Association, RB Smith Investments; Four Seasons Landscape Nursery; Culvers, and Starbucks. In addition, the City of Valparaiso’s Public Works Department has organized the event and provided funding for the tree stock. To learn more about how to get involved in Valparaiso’s Shade Brigade effort, contact Public Works at 462-4612 or visit the Shade Brigade of Valparaiso page on Facebook.