Davey Tree Flipbooks

10 | January/February 2016 One of the 322 trees planted at Anton Grdina Elementary School. Northeast Ohio will be a little greener in the future, thanks to a sustainable partnership between Davey, the Cleveland Cavaliers and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the second annual "Trees for Threes" program. Together, volunteer groups from each partner pledged to plant one tree for every three pointer the Cavs scored during the team's 41 regular season home games in the 2014-2015 season. The number of "threes" translated to 422 total trees and shrubs volunteers and students planted in the Cleveland and Akron areas. Davey donated all the trees and shrubs to the program. The first day of the two-part tree planting event benefited Cleveland's Anton Grdina Elementary School. More than 100 students helped Davey and PwC volunteers plant 322 trees and shrubs alongside Cleveland legends Austin Carr and Campy Russell, the Cavalier Girls, members of the Scream Team and the Cavs' mascot, Sir C.C. The second day was split up into two separate planting events at Akron elementary schools, starting with Betty Jane Community Learning Center (CLC) in the morning and then Windemere CLC in the afternoon. Davey, PwC and a few Canton Charge basketball players and cheerleading squad members helped more than 100 students plant 100 total trees at both schools. The events helped the students understand the importance of trees. In Akron and Cleveland, Davey volunteers attached nearly all new trees with tree benefit tags so students and community members know how much each tree is worth in economic and environmental benefits. The 422 donated trees' total benefits, in dollars, equal $809,075 over the next 40 years. Several Davey offices contributed to the plantings, including Akron R/C, Canton R/C, Cleveland East CLS*, Cleveland West CLS*, the Davey Nursery, Davey Resource Group*, East Cleveland R/C, Northeast Cleveland R/C and West Cleveland R/C. (*attended both plantings) Ken Cloutier had a blast working with his group of kids. He planted more than 10 trees in a section of Anton Grdina Elementary School grounds. "It's a fun, major stress reliever, and I will have some people I can hire in the future," Cloutier says. "The kids learn a lot, and I think they are learning valuable skills. Nine out of 10 people don't know how to mulch a tree the right way, and even though these kids might not work for Davey in the future, at least they know how to plant trees correctly." Jason Garver helps plant the first and largest tree of the day, a red maple, which kicked off the Trees for Threes event at Anton Grdina Elementary School in Cleveland. "In 20 to 30 years, the school grounds will be woods. I know because we line our fields with trees at the Davey Nursery in Wooster with trees just a little bit bigger than the ones planted at the school," Garver says. "In 10 years they grow more than 10 inches. The trees will probably bring deer, birds and squirrels to the school." #TREES4THREES BOARD BULLETIN

• Cover