Group gathers to plant parkway trees

Children were chasing each other in the parking lot giggling, while the parents were visiting, chatting. One truck was loaded with ice, containers, sodas, barbecue supplies and watermelons. A few of the children were overheard saying that they can't wait for the watermelons. The families had begun to arrive at the church parking lot as early as 8 a.m. on April 26. By the time the scheduled gathering organized in the auditorium of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Loara Avenue at 9, more than 200 volunteers were ready to begin the eighth annual Volunteer Connection Day / Arbor Day Tree Planting. Coordinated in partnership with Community ReLeaf Anaheim, the city Urban Forestry office and funded by Boeing Anaheim and the California Department of Forestry, this yearly event to plant parkway trees in neighborhoods had become a family tradition. Dennis Irving, the event coordinator, welcomed the families and thanked them. Church members, he said, looked forward to participating in this community event every year. I explained to the audience the educational part of tree planting. "We plant trees for others, it is the most unselfish gift we can give a community," I said. "A Chinese proverb asks: 'Who thought of me 20 years ago, that I might enjoy the shade of this tree today.'" Since 1990, Community ReLeaf Anaheim has planted an estimated 9,000 trees. Led by Sally White, our founder who died a few years ago, we were instrumental in promoting trees as a way to make our city more asset valuable. In 2002 alone, more than 1,000 trees were planted, many by children as part of their community service obligations. Volunteers have descended on Anaheim neighborhoods on Saturday mornings, shovels in hand, dug into city parkways and planted 15-gallon trees, as requested, "green side up, brown side down" rushing out by noon. Trees are truly the lungs of the cities; they breathe new life. A breath of fresh air, if you will. A community group, a church, a large corporation, the city and the state, coming together, represented by 256 people strong, on a Saturday morning to plant trees for the benefit of a neighborhood with more than 1,000 homes is a testament to the strength of a coalition. The coalition of tree planting friends made a choice to make a difference by planting greenery that will make our piece of the world a shade better. And it is in caring to do so that the strength of the coalition lies. Volunteering means you choose, you don't have to, you don't get paid and you may not get anything back other than that feeling. But by choosing to do good for others, we help not only them, but ourselves, for we have chosen to connect with the world at large. Volunteering helps connect us to the unseen threads that unite us all. Choosing to volunteer is a very good choice indeed. Life isn't much unless you give a little every now and then. Volunteering is untapped resource and it is so free to do and so freeing.