Sustainable HFC and elementary students plant trees for Arbor Day

Consider donating to the Tree Fund

The Sustainable HFC Committee will celebrate Arbor Day on Friday, April 25, from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. by planting trees in the section of grass between the rain garden and the Athletic Memorial Building (Building H on the main campus). Use our Campus Map.

HFC Pre-Education Program Director Dr. Carolyn Casale expects several HFC students and team members to plant trees under the guidance of Facilities Services. Up to 70 students from two 4th-grade classes from William Ford Elementary School and teachers will also help plant trees. This is the second year William Ford Elementary students have participated in the Arbor Day tree planting.

“My amazing pre-education students have been observing and working with these creative and dynamic students at William Ford Elementary,” said Casale. “We are excited to partner with them. My students have focused on co-teaching lessons in Mrs. Mariam Hamid's fourth grade class. We are excited to have our yearlong activities culminate in a trip to HFC and have them assist in building the campus community.”

Afterward, the William Ford Elementary students will take a tour of the campus, including a stop at the Hammond Planetarium to see a Planetarium show. They will use a microscope to study plant cells.

“We also will have a gift to give each child, parent, and teacher: A plant for Arbor Day,” said Casale.

Why we plant trees

Trees have innate value for their beauty and aesthetics. Trees also have practical value for the ecosystem. Three ways of mitigating the effects of human-induced climate change include:

• Reducing human input of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) into the atmosphere (replaces fossil fuels with renewables).
• Taking carbon dioxide and methane out of the atmosphere (carbon capture technologies).
• Adapting to worsening climate conditions (flood and fire control).

Trees have an important impact on climate change, pollution reduction, promoting biodiversity, reducing water runoff, and many other ecosystem benefits.

“Start small and go big. Our tree planting is a small step, so please join us and give a big gift to Mother Earth,” said HFC biology instructor and chair of the Sustainable HFC Committee Dr. Mary Parekunnel.

Arbor Day has Michigan roots

Arbor Day was founded in 1872 by Julius Sterling Morton, who was born in New York in 1832. His family moved to Michigan in 1834. Morton was a journalist and a politician, becoming the 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1893-97, serving under President Grover Cleveland.

When he was 22, Morton and his family moved to Nebraska and planted trees, shrubs, and flowers on the prairie. Morton used his writing and speaking opportunities to advocate for what is now called environmental stewardship. He approached what is now the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) with a resolution to designate an annual day to plant trees statewide, which was adopted. As a result, April 10, 1872 was designated the first Arbor Day with an estimated 1 million trees planted. Arbor Day is celebrated annually on the final Friday of April.

The Arbor Day Foundation was founded in 1972 on the 100th anniversary of the first Arbor Day. It is the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to planting frees. Since its inception, the Arbor Day Foundation has planted 500 million trees.

Donate today to the Tree Fund

HFC’s School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and the Sustainable HFC Committee recognized the need and desire for more trees on campus, and set up a Tree Fund. This fund establishes a process for the HFC community to donate to the HFC Foundation to have trees planted,mnollowing environmental best practices.

How much does it cost to plant a tree?

• A donation of $250 to $299 covers the average cost of one tree planting.
• A donation of $300 or more covers the average cost of one tree planting and a donor plaque.
• Any donation less than $250 will support either a milestone tree planting when $250 is accumulated on materials necessary to offset the excess costs of other tree plantings.

Please donate to the Tree Fund today at the link above. Select your donation amount and the “Other” option, where you can write in “Tree Fund.”

You can also donate by mail. Please make your checks out to “The Henry Ford College Foundation” and include “Tree Fund” in the memo line. Mail the check to the following address:

The Henry Ford College Foundation
Welcome Center
5101 Evergreen Rd.
Dearborn, MI 48128

Hope to see you on Arbor Day

“‘I wish that I could give you something… but I have nothing left.’ This is from Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree,” said Hamid. “This quote signifies that trees have given humans all that they can and will continue to help. Arbor Day gives us the opportunity to plant trees for a healthier future.”

No registration is required. HFC’s Arbor Day celebration is free and open to the public.

• For questions or more information about making a donation, contact the HFC Foundation at 313-317-6839.
• For questions or more information about Arbor Day or the Sustainable HFC Committee, contact greenideas@hfcc.edu.

Public events at HFC are open to all. Everyone is welcome.