Planting Trees, Inspiring People

Friends of Trees, a Tree for All partner from the beginning, is a nonprofit that inspires people to improve the natural world around them through a simple solution: Planting trees. Together. By mustering an army of volunteers every weekend during the planting season, Friends of Trees plays a pivotal role in bolstering ecological resilience and addressing regulatory needs while giving people a first-hand understanding of the importance of healthy streams.

Implementing riparian restoration in urban settings is no simple task; however, Friends of Trees makes it look easy. In the 2017-2018 planting season, 7,773 Friend of Trees volunteers — 24 percent of them young people — donated the equivalent of more than five years of labor.

Friends of Trees is active in 20 cities across two states and six counties — including Washington County, where the organization partners with fellow nonprofits as well as the public sector to recruit volunteers, prepare sites, develop leadership, and transform communities.

Thirteen years of multifaceted partnership translates into millions of dollars leveraged, and thousands of residents connected in a memorable, personal way to their Tualatin River Watershed.

Among Tree for All partners, Friends of Trees is a leader in mobilizing volunteers and honoring the diversity of those volunteers. At the beginning of each public planting event, Friends of Trees shares this statement about its commitment to equity: “Friends of Trees will always strive to be a welcoming and safe place for everyone, regardless of age, ability, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, political views or economic status. Without our volunteers, we are nothing. But together we do amazing things.”