This year, Rotarians in Tempe planted 124 trees in one day at Svob Park, with the help of Camelback Crossroads Satellite, Tempe Rio Salado and with money from a Tempe trust from a former Tempe Downtown Rotarian.Shade in parks is an important aspect of community development in Arizona, and we knew planting one tree per Rotarian was one of RI President Ian Riseley’s goals for the Rotary year. When the group spoke with the City of Tempe and they seemed excited about the initiative, they jumped on the chance. It took a lot of collaboration between the city and Rotary, at least five months of planning, multiple committee meetings and a fantastic point person, Rotarian Tara Haviland, to pull it all off.
They made sure to check the following:- Ensure sustainability so that the trees would be taken care of in the future. The city had a tree expert decide on the most Arizona-friendly trees, and installed irrigation in the park for each tree (a project they were already planning on doing).
- Tool planning. They used the ToolBank for help, to be sure they had enough shovels and especially pole pounders.
- Volunteer planning. They used SignUp Genius and visited other clubs to enlist help, as well as involving their Rotaract community.
- Public relations. The City of Tempe agreed to send out an announcement to the neighborhood inviting homeowners to the project, and many showed up!
Their sponsors made a big difference in the quality of the event; Edwards Design Group sponsored a coffee bar for the volunteers, and BrightView Commercial Landscape helped with the event as well. They are happy to help any other clubs planning a tree project, and can be reached at cxrtempe@gmail.com.
Their three biggest tips are: Collaborate, plan ahead and announce your event widely. Watch this video by Shawna Wolf Photography if you’d like to see how the day went!