Trees For Kids applications are available online
for schools and communities to involve youth in planting trees on school
grounds and other public property.
In 2014, Trees
For Kids Grants were awarded to 40 schools and communities which planted
more than 1,600 landscape trees, and involved over 5,200 youth.
Trees For Kids grants pay up to $5,000 for landscape
trees and mulch for schools and other public areas. Trees may be planted
in either spring or fall. The deadline for submitting a spring
application is March 2, 2015.
Each planting
project is required to have an educational component with the youth, and Project
Learning Tree training is also
provided to educators to create lesson plans and utilize curriculum with the
planted trees.
Trees planted
around schools and in neighborhoods have been shown to give youth increased
levels of concentration, lower levels of aggression, lower levels of obesity,
and fewer symptoms of ADHD. Communities are made more livable by having a
healthy, diverse tree canopy.
The
Trees for Kids and Trees for Teens grant program is funded
by Iowa Department of Natural Resources Forestry Bureau, MidAmerican Energy,
Black Hills Energy, Alliant Energy, Iowa Bankers Association, Trees Forever,
Iowa Tree Farm Committee, and the Iowa Woodland Owners Association.
For
information about how to apply for a spring Trees
For Kids grant, contact the grant coordinator at laura.wagner@dnr.iowa.gov,
515/281-6749.
