Our flagship program, Denver Digs Trees, has been providing free and low-cost trees to Denver residents for over forty years. This past April, coinciding with Earth Day, we distributed over 1,400 hardy, drought tolerant trees to Denver residents. 65% of these trees went to residents in low-canopy neighborhoods, which are communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change. Throughout their lifetimes, these trees will offset 9.5 million pounds of greenhouse gases, remove 70,000 pounds of air pollutants, mitigate 58 million gallons of stormwater, save residents $250,000 in energy costs, and shade these communities by up to 15 degrees. In addition to these metrics, the mental health and community benefits these trees will provide are invaluable.
As our spring programs season comes to a close, and these baby trees put roots in the ground, we want to thank our sponsors for making this work possible. 275 dedicated volunteers, dozens of community partners, and eight committed sponsors made this happen. Thank you to The Denver Foundation, Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency - City and County of Denver, Denver Parks and Recreation, Denver Water, Colorado Garden Foundation, Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), Living Room Real Estate, and Xcel Energy for making this work possible. And thank you to every Denver resident who believes in the power of trees.
And thank you Kalen Jesse Photography Co. for these incredible photos!
