SOUTHEAST SASKATCHEWAN - Those who are interested can celebrate with a free tree from their local library this Earth Day through Neighbourhood Forest – a non-profit, social venture dedicated to giving children a tree to plant for free every spring.
“We love trees. We love planting them and watching them grow. We want to give every child this joy,” said Vikas Narula, co-founder of Neighbourhood Forest
The program helps beautify neighbourhoods, remove carbon from the atmosphere, and instill a sense of magic, wonder, and love for the planet for those who participate.
Since 2010, Neighbourhood Forest has mobilized over 3,500 schools, libraries and youth groups, engaged over 500,000 volunteers, and given over 197,000 children internationally the opportunity to plant trees.
“We are on track to give over 100,000 kids their very own tree this Earth Day,” said Narula. “Up from 67,000 last year.”
Neighbourhood Forest is growing at a rapid rate and is aiming to reach one million children in the next few years.
“Our dream is to reach every child in North America and eventually the world,” said Narula.
Neighbourhood Forest is one of the largest and fastest growing tree-planting initiatives in North America that is free and volunteer-driven, co-ordinated on an annual basis every spring, focused on urban and residential beautification, and involves hundreds of thousands of children and families.
Those in the Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Regional Library first heard about Neighbourhood Forest in 2024 and worked with it that year.
"We saw that another regional library in the province was taking part, so we reached out to the organization,” said Morgan Kelly, the community services manager for Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Regional Library.
They asked for more information about how to participate and then made every branch a place to sign up for the program.
“The program took off,” said Kelly.
“We have tried to reach out with partnerships the last couple of years, but we have never done a giveaway like this,” said Kelly.
“It's not something you think of when you think of the library,” she continued. “You don’t think of free trees. So, it was a good way to get people who hadn't even been to the library interested. Then we were able to offer more resources or programs and interest them now that we have them.”
In 2024, they distributed almost 1,000 trees.
“We were surprised with how well it went. That was a big thing for us. We have a lot of different resources and of course, we are always trying to get more people to use their libraries and trees seem to be a big draw. We couldn't believe the take-up. It’s a great idea. For some reason, it clicked with people,” said Kelly.
Since it is not over for 2025, Kelly is unsure how many they have done.
“I don't think we are there yet but I know some of the bigger branches will have 30 people signed up,” said Kelly. “Some of our smaller ones will have anywhere from 10 to 20 signed up. It depends on the community.”
Kelly thinks this is a great addition to their Earth Day programming.
“Our branches do a bit of programming around Earth Day but this is an opportunity to provide something we would not normally be able to make happen,” said Kelly. “We are lucky to work with Neighbourhood Forest because there are a lot of donors and fundraisers that make this possible for all of North America.”
“We are trying to work on programs that get people thinking outside the four walls of the library. This is an interesting program for us; this gets people thinking about the ways the library supports their community beyond books,” continued Kelly.
Neighborhood Forest aims to provide native and/or fruit-bearing trees in all the regions they serve.
“We mix up the species each year on a state-by-state, province-by-province basis. We will know the exact species for Saskatchewan in early April,” said Narula.
Parents had until March 15 to order a free tree. Parents and guardians can sign up their child at the local library or online.
Parents and guardians can pick up their trees from the library right around Earth Day on April 22. Parents and guardians should check updates from the library via email or social media to find out exact pick-up dates and times. If trees are not claimed by the end of April, they will be given to others on a first-come, first-serve basis.
