On September 27th & 28th, 250+ volunteers joined us at Neighborwoods to plant 200 more trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood.

At the beginning of the year, there were over 700 empty spaces for trees in the MLK Park Neighborhood. With the help of these volunteers, 450+ trees have been planted in these spaces during ArborFest in the spring and Neighborwoods in the fall.

We are SO grateful for the support from our site leaders, volunteers, partners, sponsors, and especially from neighbors in the MLK Park Neighborhood. Not only were there fewer tree denials this year (10% rather than our average of 20%), but we also had the privilege of planting alongside many neighbors and are working to fulfill requests for more trees!

On Saturday, at our community celebration, we gave participants 43 free container trees and enjoyed a delicious lunch from Yummy in the Tummy!

Neighborwoods is in partnership with the Mayor’s Greening Initiative, and these community tree-planting events wouldn’t be possible without Mayor Bliss’ ongoing support. Over 13,000 trees have been planted in Grand Rapids during her time in office, and we are so happy we could celebrate her hard work and advocacy at Neighborwoods!

On Friday, we planted a tree in honor of Mrs. Brenda Moore for her 40+ years of service in her community. We were joined by Mrs. Brenda and her friends and colleagues from Urban League of Grand Rapids, and planted a beautiful redbud tree in MLK Park.

Thank you to our sponsors (below), Yummy in the Tummy, Tiffany Fant / Mo’Photography LLC, and Joy of Sprinkles Custom Cookies.

USDA and Friends of Grand Rapids Parks are equal opportunity providers and employers. Funding for this project provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and the USDA Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry Program. ArborFest and Neighborwoods 2024 are in partnership with the Mayor’s Greening Initiative, King Park Neighborhood Association, and more. This event is made possible through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.