TREES FOR LIFE
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May 26, 2011
I have served on the board of trustees at Trees for Life the past fifteen years. The organization meets three times yearly. We are given detailed updates on what is taking place and asked for our opinions on new ways the organization is working.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
continuing to see the development of over fifty libraries in villages throughout Nicaragua.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
encourage the participation of a youth on our board of trustees.
May 10, 2011
Alternative Gifts International has a long history of partnering wtih Trees for Life. This is a first class operation whose founders and leadership have worked to expand their outreach into building sustainable programs for the poor. I have visited their headquarters and I admite this great group of people for their dedication and sacrifice.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
Have not.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
I would encourage others to learn and practice their business model.
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How does this organization compare with others in the same sector?
Very Well
How much of an impact do you think this organization has?
Life-changing
Will you recommend this organization to others?
Definitely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2011
1 person found this review helpful
March 23, 2011
1 person found this review helpful
This is a very genuine organization that I'm very happy to support.
I've known about TFL for a long time, and actually had the pleasure of sharing a house with someone who was an active volunteer for the organization (he spent a lot of time in Latin America helping people build more efficient stoves) for a year.
This is an organization that is clearly run from the heart, with wisdom and clarity about how to truly be of assistance in areas of the world that need help.
They plant trees, start libraries, help with water and nutrition and seem to be very "here" and paying attention to what will work.
The founder's stories of his experiences are uplifting and ring true to me.
Thanks for the opportunity to be able to vote.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
The life of my friend who spent a lot of time in Guatemala
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Nothing, except maybe donate more of my time/money to it/
March 22, 2011
First i'd like to say how grateful i am to have an opportunity to serve at "Trees For Life". It gives me a chance for even a few hours a week to be able to give and serve. Amazing place with amazing people, who are united and dedicated in helping the poorest in the world with their humble work.
If people are willing, at "Trees For Life" they're provided with opportunities to develop their potential and to find out who they are and what they're looking for in life.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
In being inspired by the example of the people who serve and work there. By seeing the results of their efforts that have reached millions of poor people all over the world.
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Can't think of any right now.
1 person found this review helpful
July 28, 2010
1 person found this review helpful
I met Balbir in 1984 and we''ve been friends since. He was just in the process of giving birth to Trees For Life and I felt then and still feel it is a kind of paradigm for what helping institutions will become in the future, simple, family-like groups dedicated to empowering people who are often overlooked or exploited by more powerful institutions. The focus is on helping people achieve what they want to achieve by listening to them and joining with them so that what is gained is prized by the receiver since the receiver has worked hard to achieve the goal or project and hasn't just been the recipient of money or goods and services supplied by a donor without any effort on the part of the recipient to share in the work and responsibility.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
a number of projects they've taken up: their books for life project recently sent books to Liberia, their setting up of libraries in many countries, e.g. Nicaragua and Ethiopia, their mailings of seeds for trees, their work at a school in Allahabad India.
More feedback...
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
sharing in the various projects.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
consistently of high quality with a desire to serve others.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
get engaged to a greater degree in projects helpful to those individuals and communities around the world it is now serving.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every week
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
1 person found this review helpful
June 30, 2010
1 person found this review helpful
I became friends with Treva and Balbir through my sister who was a journalist doing a story on Trees for Life. Over the years my children and I would help out at the office and enjoy the "communal" lunches. During that time I was working for a well-respected investment manager who managed $350 million in charitable foundation funds. In talking to him one day about non-profits, he said "it is much easier to build the wealth initially, than to find disciplined non-profits in which to contribute to". He used Trees for Life as an example of a movement that astutely balances business efficiency and deep compassion. I have contributed to Trees for Life, but more than that I have loved each and everyone of them. Balbir (and all of them) have set a barometer for me to live by. As David says, "It is not about changing the world...it is about loving the world. It is about offering a hand so that others may live, and offering my heart so that I may live. The change that the world truly needs is the change in me, the opening of my heart".
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
In my private life and beyond.
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How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every six months
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
My Role: Volunteer & Taught conversational English at a school for poverty-level children in India for 3 school years. And at the international headquarters in Wichita, KS., I helped with fund raising, grant writing and communications. Most recently , I have helped organize .
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2 people found this review helpful
June 24, 2010
2 people found this review helpful
My husband and I were full-time volunteers for Trees for Life for 7-l/2 years, 3 of which were spent in India as volunteer teachers of conversational English at a school for 1200 poverty-level children. We also helped establish a medical lab at the school and helped teach computers to students and teachers. Our experience there stands out as the most extraordinary years of our lives. The school provides a 21st century education to children, many of whom are first-generation learners, whose parents earn about $1 a day. These children would not be likely to attend school if Trees for Life did not support this school. Trees for Life's philosophy is all about empowering people, whether it's kids attending school or people in a village who want to build a school or a library, drill a water well, improve the health of their community or plant trees ... all of which are the kinds of projects Trees for Life works with communities in developing countries to create. I found Trees for Life to be a personal growth experience. The leadership is always interested in a volunteer's personal growth as much as "production" of any project. It is a spiritual place to work, without being religious. Trees for Life uses its resources very judiciously. Contributions stretch a long way because of a strong volunteer base and an ethic of conservative money management. Volunteers of all ages, races, nationalities, and sexual orientations have found a welcome home at Trees for Life. If someone is searching for his/her niche in life, no matter what stage of life, Trees for Life might just be the place to figure that out and have a great experience in the process!
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
my own life! I have started 3 non profit organizations and been involved with a number of others and Trees for Life is the most cooperative, creative, inspiring place I've ever been associated with. And it's fun too!
More feedback...
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
living and working with the people of India.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
cooperative, accepting, thoughtful people of all races, creeds, nationalities, and sexual orientations
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
continue its global education project, figuring out ways to educate and empower people in developing countries, so they can climb out of poverty.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About once a year
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2009
1 person found this review helpful
April 9, 2010
1 person found this review helpful
I did a year of full-time volunteering for Trees for Life doing graphic and web design. It was an incredible place to be with wonderful people. Working there was a great experience!
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What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
learning about how a successful nonprofit operates and getting to know the talented, dedicated people that make TFL so great!
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
One time
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2001
1 person found this review helpful
April 5, 2010
1 person found this review helpful
On my first visit to Trees for Life, I was extremely impressed with those who worked there and with the volunteers. After hearing from Mr. Mathur, I was telling him that I thought he was doing a wonderful work on behalf of those in very needy circumstances. He said that for him, the work made him feel as though he was privileged to "dance with the angels" each day. In 2009, my husband & I were involved in a children's book drive in as many areas of Kansas as we could, to collect books to build a library in Ethopia. The person in Ethopia who made this request to Trees for Life,now provides a cart to regularly take more books to the rural areas. We saw a video of the cart entering a small village & the sides of the road were lined with children waiting to see that months delivery. Mr. Mathur was able to talk a large grocery chain into having boxes where people could drop the books when they did their grocery shopping. I find the organization to be very caring; the volunteers that work reqularly there are very pleased with the outcomes of their efforts.
More feedback...
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
Trees for Life began working in India, now it is working in some of the central American nations. They go where the need is. They also have studied the value of various kinds of trees which could help feed persons in many places in the world.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About once a year
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2009
2 people found this review helpful
April 4, 2010
2 people found this review helpful
I volunteered as the community volunteer coordinator. I started at a very difficult time in my life, and the work, the staff and other volunteers showed me that there is a great group of people and good work needing to be done. Those years were some of themost fu, working with volunteers doing mailings, sending out trees, and oh so much more. Would love to do t again! Only left because we moved away.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
seeing how its better to help people help themselves, than to do it for them
More feedback...
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
all of it, the work, the people, the results
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
the friendliest, most caring people I've ever met
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
feed the world's hungry
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every week
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2008
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