The ChariTREE Foundation is gearing up to plant thousands of trees with students and campers this Spring.

Campers at summer camps across Canada will be planting thousands of Wish Trees. 
Canadian Camping Association is partnering with The ChariTREE Foundation to plant 10,000 trees with campers across Canada this year.

Information for camps interested in participating:

In the summer of 2009, hundreds of campers in twelve Ontario camps planted 2300 seedlings on their camp properties.  These seedlings were delivered to the camps free of charge through the auspices of a charity created by Andrea Koehle Jones.  Andrea, Executive Director of Love Trees (www.lovetrees.ca) and The ChariTREE Foundation (www.charitree.ca), is a journalist, author, environmental entrepreneur, former camper and mother of two children who lives on Bowen Island, British Columbia.  Her company offers a unique educational tree planting program, which combines Andrea’s two passions: children and the environment.

When a child plants a tree, a very meaningful and powerful experience, they get to make a wish for the planet.  Andrea calls them Wish Trees.  Andrea has traveled to Africa to plant trees with school children.  A video of this experience can be viewed on Andrea’s website.

Owing to the success of this pilot project in Ontario in 2009, CCA/ACC, with Andrea’s continuing commitment, is able to extend this free tree-planting opportunity to camps across Canada.

To sign up for this great program:

1.  Visit The ChariTREE Foundation website to learn more about the work of this charity. www.charitree.ca

2.  By May 1, 2010, order your seedlings (from 50 to 250) by e-mail through your provincial CCA/ACC representative. The seedlings are very compact. (1500 fit easily into the trunk of a car.)

British Columbia: Pam Chater (pam.chater@vanymca.org )

Alberta: Kathy Keohler  (gkoehler@telus.net)

Saskatchewan: Donna Wilkinson (donnaw@sasktel.net )

Manitoba: Liora Glow (lglow@shaw.ca )

Ontario: Dave Graham  (dave@kandalore.com)

Quebec: Tanya Desrochers (tanyaire@hotmail.com )

New Brunswick: Stephane Richard (Stephane.Richard@diabetes.ca )

Nova Scotia: Heather MacDonald (h.macdonald@easterseals.ns.ca )

Newfoundland: Malcolm Turner (killdevil.camp@gmail.com )

3.  Each provincial representative will choose one central location with a mailing address where the seedlings will be delivered in mid June.  Andrea’s charity will pay the shipping costs to one location in each province.  The CCA/ACC provincial representative arranges for pick up or distribution of the tress in each province.  Seedlings can be stored for a short period in a cool place.

4.  On receipt, the camp signs a commitment to plant the seedlings with their campers shortly after receiving the supply.  The sooner the seedlings are planted the greater chance of their survival.

5.  It’s FREE! It’s simple!  It will make a difference to your campers, your camp and the environment!

Order your seedlings from your provincial representative today!

For more information about The ChariTREE Foundation’s camp program contact Catherine Ross: catherine_ross(at)sympatico.ca

For more information about ChariTREE programs and to see a downloadable Wish Tree certificate for your campers visit Tree kids + Teachers. Here are some articles about last summer’s camp tree planting program with our partner Love Trees:

• Campers Plant ‘Wish Trees’
• Wenonah Campers ‘Love Trees’
• Planting the seeds
• Canada’s Love Trees helps thousands of children plant trees

Students at various schools will also be planting Wish Trees. (Deadline for teachers to order free trees for their students is May 1, 2010.)

Teachers across Canada interested in ordering trees for their students should read Tree Kids + Teachers for more information.

• This Christmas ChariTREE Foundation is trying something new – we’ve donated Giant potted Wish Trees / Christmas trees to be decorated with wishes and Christmas/Holiday ornaments and then planted by students in the Spring. This year the following schools received a tree:

Island Discovery School

Bowen Island Montessori

Bowen Children’s Centre

• 500 trees will be planted by students at Martin Collegiate in Regina, Saskatchewan.

For more information about The ChariTREE Foundation’s school program contact Andrea Koehle Jones: andrea(at)charitree.ca

The ChariTREE Foundation receives a portion of profits from Love Trees and the sale of The Wish Trees Children’s Book. In addition to planting trees with kids, TCF also donates a portion of donations registered children’s environmental charities.