The Oakville Community Foundation has announced a $10,000 grant to Oakvillegreen Conservation Association to plant 400 trees in 2025, as part of the Oakville Urban Tree Initiative.
The Oakville Urban Tree Initiative is a collaboration between The Foundation and Oakvillegreen in order to increase Oakville’s urban tree canopy, raise awareness about urban trees as climate solutions, and enhance community engagement and enjoyment.
The trees will be planted within the Town of Oakville across four different planting events, two in the spring and two in the fall. More than 160 volunteers will be engaged during these planting events, including other local charities, groups, clubs and students. Register here for future tree plantings.
“The Oakville Community Foundation is very committed to helping build out our local tree canopy,” said Lisa Kohler, OCF Board member and Chair of the Oakville Climate Report Committee. “Not only do trees help capture and sequester carbon from the atmosphere, but they also foster community by creating welcoming spaces where people want to spend time. We appreciate the incredible work of Oakvillegreen in sourcing and planting trees native to the area, and we thank all of our partners and people who took the tree pledge to support this work.”
“Participating in tree planting engages and empowers our community”, says Programs Director Anelia Tichkova. “Volunteers love hands-on action and tell us it’s the most meaningful way for them to contribute to human well-being and biodiversity. It’s a truly local investment in climate resilience.”
The Oakville Urban Tree Initiative is an initiative of The Foundation’s 2024 climate report — Our Community Legacy: What Oakville will our children and grandchildren inherit? — which found that tree canopy coverage is unequal throughout the Town.
To support the planting of more trees, and help reach the 2047 goal of 40% tree canopy coverage in Oakville, community members were invited to take the Tree Pledge. Offered as a multi-year pledge, the dollars in the Fund go towards planting more trees.
Trees help to absorb and sequester carbon, protect and enhance wildlife habitat and remove pollutants from the air, soil and groundwater. They also provide home energy savings of approximately $1.8 million per year.
Donations can be made to the Oakville Urban Tree Fund to continue supporting tree planting in Oakville in the years to come.
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Oakville Community Foundation
The Oakville Community Foundation is Oakville’s largest community of philanthropists with 400 Funds. The Foundation acts as a philanthropic medium, investing donations to generate new money for our community. We conduct local research to provide our diverse donors with knowledge and solutions to make an impact in the local community, both today and in the future. Thanks to the visionaries in our community who started The Foundation 30 years ago, The Foundation has granted more than $69 million to support charities locally and beyond.
Oakvillegreen is a non-partisan environmental charity that has been protecting and restoring nature through community education and local action since 2000. Working closely with thousands of local volunteers, they protect and restore the ecological functions of local lands and waters, creating a more resilient and healthy community. Their approach is to empower community action by providing the tools, knowledge and opportunity for individuals to make change happen locally. Through direct engagement and the promotion of nature-based climate solutions, they work to create a greener Oakville. For more information, visit oakvillegreen.org
Media Contact
Taline McPhedran
Communications and Events Manager
taline@theocf.org
