Youth Make a Difference!

Help and resources

For assistance in contacting your local community forester or state urban forestry volunteer coordinator, see Where to Get Help, or contact us at:

For other information, contact:

Parents, teachers, & sponsors

Encourage youth to volunteer in tree planting and care efforts already underway in the community. Make it easy for them to make the necessary contacts.

Also, use this activity for classrooms and youth groups, to get youth interested in trees around their neighborhood.

Youth around the nation have already made a difference

1. Tree Musketeers in El Segundo, California, revived Arbor Day in their community, started a community recycling program, and launched an environmental quiz show for their local cable channel. Today, Tree Musketeers programs serve youth nationwide. Find out how you can participate in their new “Count On Kids” campaign.

   Visit treemusketeers.org.

2. Kids For A Clean Environment kid-founder Melissa Poe of Nashville, Tennessee, launched an organization that now boasts 300,000 kid-members worldwide.

   For more information, visit kidsface.org or write:

   KidsFACE
   PO Box 158254
   Nashville, TN 37215

3. Earth Angels of St. Louis, Missouri, worked together on recycling projects, litter clean-up, and tree planting in their neighborhood.

4. Paco Wenzel of La Grande, Oregon, was the nation’s youngest tree board member, at age 16.

You can make a difference, too!

Make a difference in and around your school

1. Encourage your class or whole school to plant a tree for Arbor Day.

2. Encourage your fifth grade classroom to participate in the Arbor Day National Poster Contest.

3. Volunteer to mentor younger kids in your school’s outdoor classroom or talk with your teacher or principal about starting an outdoor classroom.

4. Volunteer to help with your school’s recycling program or help start one.

5. Order a free “Celebrate Arbor Day” guidebook.

6. Get poster contest information from:

   The Arbor Day Foundation, Poster Contest Coordinator

   P.O. Box 85784

   Lincoln, NE 68501-5784

   E-mail:

7. For possible program assistance or help in obtaining a tree, contact your local Keep America Beautiful affiliate, community forester or garden club.

Volunteer to help plant and care for trees in your community

1. Develop a tree-planting project as a community service, Scout, neighborhood, or block project

2. Volunteer with your community's parks department or tree advisory board. Encourage city officials to form a tree committee if one doesn't already exist.

3. Start an environmental club at your school

4. Organize a cleanup project at your neighborhood park

5. Volunteer to help with your school or community's Arbor Day celebration or organize one.