Let’s make real change, starting where we live

by Brian Wiedenmeier, Executive Director

If you’re like me, you feel anxious this time of year. Drought and heat mean wildfires in Northern California, along with the bad air they create. As these fires become worse, it’s easy to feel helpless.

Bringing neighbors together to plant and care for San Francisco’s urban forest is an act of hope. I’ve only been Executive Director for a few months, and already my sense of hope has been renewed by the work we’re doing in communities across San Francisco.

Mission Verde founder Kindra Scharich, center, celebrates another new tree with volunteers John Mendoza of Calle 24 and Josh Klipp

Will you join me in spreading hope by making a gift to Friends of the Urban Forest today?

The climate crisis impacts us all, but certain neighborhoods are better prepared to manage the challenge. It’s no accident that San Francisco neighborhoods with more resources have a more robust tree canopy. Friends of the Urban Forest is focused on addressing this injustice by planting street trees in under-forested neighborhoods. Your gift will expand the tree canopy where it’s needed most.

I’ve experienced our work to address these inequities firsthand. Over the summer a coalition including Friends of the Urban Forest, community partners Mission Verde and Calle 24, and the City planted 145 trees near the 24th Street corridor.

It was inspiring to see our Green Teens and Green Crew out in the field with Mission Verde and interns from The Arc San Francisco planting so many new trees. Several grateful neighbors stopped to thank us.

Partnering with communities to plant and care for street trees is a proven model of success. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we managed to plant almost 1,200 trees last year. Our ambitious goal is to increase that number in the year ahead. But we can’t do it alone.

Please donate to increase the number of trees we plant this year.

Green Teens Angel and Amiya plant a Fernleaf Catalina Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus asplenifolius) in the Mission neighborhood

Trees make our neighborhoods more resilient. Maybe you’ve experienced those benefits firsthand thanks to a tree that Friends of the Urban Forest has planted in your neighborhood. Now is the time to share those benefits by donating to Friends of the Urban Forest, so we can grow our inadequate urban tree canopy.

It’s easy to let our worries about the future get the best of us. I’ve learned that the best way to deal with such concerns is to bring people together and make real change starting where we live. You can enable us to plant more trees and ensure their survival, while addressing an environmental injustice that has continued for too long.

I’m so looking forward to the work ahead, and I can’t wait to get to know you and the rest of our community better in the months to come.