My Nonprofit Reviews
treelover
Review for Our City Forest, San José, CA, USA
I have been a Tree Amigo for about 15 years. I enjoy planting trees, working with youth from some of the local schools. It is so rewarding to drive around a few years later and see the results of our efforts. There were very few staff when I first joined; now they have Americorps members who do lots of the tasks - from caring for the tree bank, organizing plantings, working with school kids about the value of trees.
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Would you volunteer for this group again?
Definitely
For the time you spent, how much of an impact did you feel your work or activity had?
A lot
Did the organization use your time wisely?
Quite well
Would you recommend this group to a friend?
Definitely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2014
Review for Our City Forest, San José, CA, USA
Our City Forest is an amazing organization in the heart of Silicon Valley, California. It was founded by Rhonda Berry about 15 years ago and I joined as a volunteer in those early days so have had an opportunity to watch it grow from a few office staff to several office staff and about 40 AmeriCorps people. The arborists work with homeowners on ways to save an ailing tree or the best tree to add to a bare spot.
Many of us have taken several classes about trees: species selection, care, pruning, etc. and are now called tree Amigos.
In addition to planting trees in the City, the AmeriCorps people work with schools to educate the youth about the benefit of trees. It is hoped that their enthusiasm will foster more people caring about trees.
I enjoy working at the Outreach booths where people stop and comment on how well their Our City Forest trees are doing or have questions about their trees. For those who don’t know about our non-profit organization, it is an opportunity to show them all the literature we have and share the benefits of trees. I also try to educate people who post their trees for removal that the benefits far outweigh the problems and that fixing a sidewalk and pruning the roots of the trees will give it many more years to provide shade and beauty to the neighborhood.
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
At the tree plantings, seeing how happy people are when they pick up their trees and watch the planting demonstrations is a real plus for volunteering. Students who helped plant trees at their schools several years ago are now measuring to see how much they have grown since they were first put in the ground.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
get them more publicity and encourage more people to volunteer.
