CANOPY BLOG

Kavanaugh residents come together for neighborhood greening in East Palo Alto

By Canopy Team on April 4, 2016

Canopy and Kavanaugh residents team up to plant trees – and more!

On April 2nd, Canopy partnered with residents of East Palo Alto’s Kavanaugh neighborhood to undertake a multi-block urban greening effort that transformed the area with 50 new street and yard trees, trash clean-up, and more.

Local residents Romain Tanière and Luis Guzman reached out to Canopy when they heard about the East Palo Alto neighborhood tree planting that took place in 2015. They were determined to bring Canopy to their neighborhood, which lacked trees and has limited access to nearby parks and public open spaces.

Kavanaugh volunteers preparing the root ball before planting the young tree

Kavanaugh volunteers prepare the root ball before planting a young tree

Bringing trees to the Kavanaugh neighborhood “was a great opportunity to beautify our neighborhood and to further engage the community in learning about environmental issues,” explained Tanière, “new trees will help reduce noise and pollution and fight against global warming and climate change for years to come.”

Over the months leading up to the tree planting, Tanière and Guzman were tireless organizers, connecting with local families and business owners to organize the day. With their help, Canopy reached out to dozens of households, working with residents to identify planting sites, select tree species, and plan for the neighborhood gathering.

Tree planting volunteers and residents with newly planted front yard tree

Tree planting volunteers and residents with their newly planted front yard tree

Residents and Volunteers Work Together for Urban Greening

In total, over 150 volunteers came out to participate, while Canopy planting leaders led efforts to plant 50 new street and yard trees. Other volunteers picked up trash around the neighborhood and removed old chainlink fences.

The day concluded in style with a neighborhood Block Party BBQ, where the residents and volunteers gathered to celebrate and connect. As one planting leader shared, “this might be the best Canopy tree planting ever!”

A five-star block party

Pitbull BarBQ cooked up his award-winning barbecue, and residents procured lots of tasty sides, with donations from Scott’s Seafood Bar & Grill in San Jose and Trader Joe’s Menlo Park. The BBQ was complete with a full roast pig smoked on the spot by a neighborhood resident.

Looking forward to growing partnerships

Canopy is excited to plant more trees in East Palo Alto neighborhoods, and to continue partnering with incredible local leaders like Romain and Luis!

Special thanks to our event partners:

Clean Zone-EPA for leading the street cleaning
Menlo Park Fire’s CERT Program for organizing the fence removal and providing safety and emergency preparedness tips
Sustainable Silicon Valley, Habitat For Humanity Greater San Francisco, California Conservation Corps, and the Ecumenical Hunger Program for providing informational tables

Are you an East Palo Alto resident interested in greening your neighborhood or a volunteer looking to help dig in? Contact Uriel Hernandez at [email protected] for more information and ways to get involved.