Grand Rapids’ mayors have always called upon us to be better citizens, and in keeping with this tradition of civic engagement is Mayor Bliss’ annual
Greening Initiative, which is produced each year in partnership with our Mayor’s Office, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, and the City’s Forestry Department.
Our mayor’s annual event seeks to engage our entire community as we seek to reach the ambitious goal of increasing our city’s tree canopy to 40%. Cities with a higher tree canopy percentage benefit tremendously from cooler temps in the summer and greater stormwater management.
This is an all-ages event and you do not need any experience planting trees as volunteer citizen foresters will be on hand to train folks on Saturday morning. All tools are provided; you just have to show up. As a thank you for your hard work on this day, participants in the Mayor’s Greening Initiative will receive from John Ball Zoo a day pass to the zoo for their service.
By the end of the day and provided all the work is completed, our city’s volunteers will have planted 300 trees in the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood, thus ensuring we are inching closer every year to our canopy goals.
In addition, on Friday night, April 26, from 6 to 7 p.m., a tree giveaway will commence at Roosevelt Park. The City of Grand Rapids residents are encouraged to come to the park, select a free tree of their choice, and plant it on their property. These free, five-gallon sized trees are provided by Bartlett Tree Experts and Lack’s Enterprises.
For more information on how to volunteer, contact Dia Noble at Friends of Grand Rapids Parks at
[email protected] or 616.288.7209.