Trees For Kids Grant available for Fall

Trees For Kids grant program is designed to provide hands-on educational opportunities for Iowa youth by planting trees on school grounds and other public places. 

The grant pays up to $5,000 in tree and mulch cost, and provides educational tree planting demonstrations to participating adults and youth. Applications are now available for this fall. 

This past spring, 21 schools and/or communities received more than $68,000 to plant over 1,000 trees around the state from the Trees For Kids grant. 

Over their 60 year lifespan, these trees will save more than 480,000 kilowatt hours of electricity by shading buildings and more than 98,000 therms by slowing down winds and reducing building heat loss. 

Those trees will help reduce flooding throughout by intercepting over 45,500,000 gallons of storm water and will reduce over 4,910,000 pounds of atmospheric carbon dioxide through CO2 sequestration and decreased energy production needs and emissions. 

Trees planted around schools and in neighborhoods have also 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.  To download the grant application, go to:  http://www.iowadnr.gov/Environment/Forestry/UrbanForestry.aspx

For more information, contact Laura Wagner, Trees for Kids Coordinator, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, at 515-281-6749.