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Achieva Credit Union Works to Revitalize Celebration of Florida’s State Arbor Day
1/13/2009 12:00:00 AM
LINCOLN, N.E. (January 13, 2009) This week more than 7,600 fourth grade students in Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando County will roll up their sleeves and plant a tree. The kids will become Fourth Grade Foresters for Florida, thanks to Achieva Credit Union. The project goal is to help revitalize a remarkable idea: the observation of Arbor Day in America’s schools. Florida’s State Arbor Day will be celebrated on Friday, January 16th.
“We are very proud to be a part of this important project,” said Gary Regoli, President and CEO, Achieva Credit Union. “We feel it is our duty to educate our youth on the importance of taking care of our community, and to provide examples of how to give back to the environment surrounding us.”
Fourth Grade Foresters USA was created to provide a simple and inexpensive way for any individual, business or organization to send the 4th Grade students at an elementary school home with a tree of their own to plant and care for. Each fourth grader receives an individually packaged 12”-18” evergreen tree seedling sealed in a polybag by workers with disabilities. Each package will include planting and care instructions and the name of its sponsor.
“This project is made possible because organizations like Achieva Credit Union covered the cost of each of the individually packaged evergreen trees, so that there is no cost to the students, the teachers, the school, or the taxpayer,” said Debra Ersch, Cofounder of the Project stated. “It’s a great way for business people, organizations, government agencies and individuals to show their support for the community, education and the environment.”
Now in the era of global warming and air pollution, tree planting is even more important than ever. Trees take carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere to help reduce warming and clean the air we breathe. Planting trees is a simple, inexpensive and easy way to address the problem. For more information about the Fourth Grade Foresters for Florida Project, please call 402-475-5631 or visit the www.fourthgradeforestersusa.com website.
The trees are packaged in workshops that employ adults with disabilities through the Free Trees and Plants project. Started in February, 2004, the www.freetreesandplants.com project obtains from growers and nurseries some of the millions of unsold plants that are destroyed each year, hires workers with disabilities to package them and then sends the plants to anyone who orders them at www.freetreesandplants.com. Consumers simply pay for processing and shipping costs.
About Achieva Credit Union: Achieva Credit Union was founded in 1937 as Pinellas County Teachers Credit Union. It currently has approximately $600 million in assets and seven branches serving over 65,000 members. Anyone who lives or works in Pinellas, Pasco, or Hernando County, Florida can bank with Achieva. For more information, please contact Dawn Dixon at (727) 431-7360.
