We were together to celebrate a year of urban forest accomplishments thanks to our outstanding team of volunteers from across different LEAF programs like our Garden Stewards, Outreach Team and EAB Ambassadors. Over the past 10 months, 642 LEAF volunteers have contributed over 3219 hours of their time to spread awareness about the urban canopy and help make our neighbourhoods greener, healthier and more beautiful.
There have been so many memorable moments. I warmly recall the sunny Saturday morning in June when Garden Stewards celebrated 100in1Day by planting milkweed in LEAF’s Urban Forest Demonstration Gardens. Over the course of the year, our team of 47 stewards planted well over 100 native perennials and shrubs in six different street gardens, spreading native species inspiration across Toronto.
The Outreach Team spent a ton of time advocating for the urban forest. This crew of 12 very dedicated volunteers brought LEAF’s educational messages to over 80 events throughout Toronto and York Region.
Another favourite moment was the painting of a mural next to the LEAF Learning Garden. Thanks to volunteer artist James McLean, all the LEAF volunteers who helped paint it and to Dulux Paints on St. Clair for donating materials, Wychwood Barns Park now has a colourful wall that increases awareness of our native plant garden.
Tree Tender graduates got busy this spring and fall, helping to plant over 600 native trees and shrubs in Toronto’s Dean Park and Vaughan’s Marita Payne Park, transforming each into a future urban forest oasis.
And those are just a few of the many highlights. Countless tree tours, workshops, EAB Ambassador canvassing days, the Leslieville Tree Festival and three new Adopt-a-Park-Tree programs kept everyone engaged in the urban forest action.
In appreciation for the hard work of our volunteers, some beautiful prizes were donated by a number of local tree-loving organizations for our appreciation event.
Scott Bodaly and Heather Lam at the National Design Collective donated their awesome “I kinda like it here” coasters. NDC are the designers of the Maple Leaf Forever Headphones and the beautiful Strata Stools found at the Evergreen Brickworks which are made of 75% salvaged material.
Karen King and her sustainable woodworking brand Said the King donated 5 of their floating, single-serve, bookshelves. Said the King was one of the local woodworkers invited to the 2013 IIDEX Woodshop where designers create innovative wood prototypes that utilize Toronto’s ash wood.
Mike Sharpe of Storyboard Furniture donated one of their beautiful cutting boards made of wood salvaged from an old Toronto apple orchard. The story of the wood is delightful and the cutting board itself is a stunning piece with character and charm.
Each attendee also went home with a beautiful package of organic seeds donated by Colette Murphy at Urban Harvest. Their seeds, 100% certified organic, can be found at The Stop’s Farmers Market every Saturday at the Wychwood Barns.
Thanks so much to everyone who helped make the year a grand success! If you would like to help our urban forest flourish, join the LEAF volunteer community and be part of the action in 2015!
Erin MacDonald is LEAF’s Volunteer and Stewardship Coordinator.