The COVID-19 pandemic that began this past spring resulted in the Arbor Day Foundation and corporate partner events making major shifts in planning and execution. Most spring events had to be rescheduled and moved to the fall. However, despite the pandemic, an innovative and successful event was held in Sierra Leone, Africa in June.
In October 2015, UPS announced plans to fund the planting of 15 million trees by the end of 2020. UPS exceeded their projections, hitting this goal in early 2019, and have now planted 15 million trees alongside global partners, including the Arbor Day Foundation.
To celebrate this milestone, UPS held 15 planting events around the world. One of these projects was a school fruit and shade tree planting in Sierra Leone, Africa. The country has experienced many hardships, including Ebola in 2014, mudslides in 2017, and now COVID-19. Tragically, over 30 percent of children in Sierra Leone also have some form of malnutrition. Many schools lack shade and proper nutrition for their students. The Arbor Day Foundation helped identify this meaningful international project and coordinated the planting event, partnering with the organization, Save Life Initiative, while UPS provided the funding. Save Life Initiative planted over 4,000 fruit and shade trees in 20 different schools in the Bombali District. Trees planted will benefit thousands of school children for generations to come.
