Love Trees is making news:

Free Tree Planting Kit for Kids: Free tree tags, certificates and more inspired by Love Trees and designed by Heather at Chickabug. Have a Tree Planting Party today!

Congratulations to Shape Lives Foundation in Ghana – they won the grand prize of $100 CDN towards fruit trees for kids. Congrats too to Michelle, Michelle B., Marthalynn, Bea, Breenna, Lerato, Jon J, Jody. and Devona – they won a bunch of other terrific prizes provided by Love Trees and The ChariTREE Foundation. All winners have now been notified by email. Happy Earth Day!

Love Trees gave more than 11,000 fruit trees to children in 2011. Right now Love Trees has a waiting list of schools and organizations requesting trees for children. We need your help to give more children trees. Please consider becoming a sponsor or purchasing a tree certificate, tree shirt or Greened by Love Trees Badge.

Earth Day Giveaway. The ChariTREE Foundation + Love Trees are branching out with this super-cool Rafflecopter Giveaway.

Reconnecting kids with nature — one tree at a time. (Metro news article available in Metro editions across the country on March 26)

Summit’s Sock Garden just debuted on Kindle. It’s a rhyming picture book about giving and growing. From Andrea Koehle Jones, author of The Wish Trees, comes the story of Summit, a big-hearted Bernese Mountain dog, who tries to make the world a better place by planting sock trees. Kids can count socks and learn to read with Summit all while relating to her generosity and enthusiastic efforts to help her sockless friends. Pre-readers and early readers will love the endearing illustrations by the author’s six-year-old daughter Avery. Summit’s Sock Garden was inspired by Avery’s love of animals and trees and Summit’s adventures in the garden. Finding socks is a challenge at the Jones house. It usually involves a trip outside to search the planters and flower beds!

This book is truly tree-free plus a portion of profits supports Love Trees and The Charitree Foundation’s tree projects for children.

Free Trees for Canadian Campers: For the fourth year, CCA/ACC is partnering with Andrea Koehle Jones, recent recipient of the CCA/ACC Award of Excellence, and the Charitree Foundation to plant trees in Canadian camps.  This summer, CCA/ACC invites your camp to join the 55 camps across the country that planted seedlings in 2011.

Love Trees Launches New Blog: Check out this adorable new blog featuring kid’s tree crafts and activities.

Check out our latest video: Take it UP a level. Every YouTube view of this videa helps put a tree in the hands of a child so pass it on…

Canadian Children’s Environmental Educator Wins National Award: Love Trees executive director and founder Andrea Koehle Jones has just been honoured with the Canadian Camping Association’s Award of Excellence for her efforts to promote environmental education and stewardship by giving young summer campers trees. Read more.

★Additional coverage of the Love Trees Award of Merit.

Love Trees LEADERSHIP AWARD OF MERIT awarded to Jon T. High for planting trees with orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya

WATCH: A Wish Tree for Every Child - a short film by Love Trees executive director, Andrea Koehle Jones (Russell Hill Productions)
There’s never been a better time to teach kids that they can make the world a better place. If children are going to make a lifelong commitment to protect the environment for themselves and future generations, they first need time to explore the wonders of nature.

These days many children have less time and fewer opportunities to connect with nature. This is a real loss because research shows that contact with nature makes kids feel better about themselves.

One of the best ways to learn about the environment is to plant a tree of your own and watch it grow.

Please comment and click like because every time you watch and share this video you are helping to put a tree in the hands of children everywhere.

Produced, filmed and directed by Andrea Koehle Jones
Art by Avery, 6 and Holden, 8
Music: ‘African’ by Patrick Carmichael

Andrea is also on IndieGOGO: http://www.indiegogo.com/love-trees

Unexpected great news: The Wish Trees (by Love Trees executive director Andrea Koehle Jones) just received a GREAT REVIEW from WordsbyMom.com!!!

“This book is truly a wonderful Holiday gift. The world would be an even more beautiful place if we all planted a Wish Tree!” 

You can buy The Wish Trees online at Chapters-Indigo, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. For more information and links to order visit: http://www.thewishtrees.com/

Just returned from Africa: The Love Trees team is back from a project inspection and fact-finding trip to eastern and southern Zambia. The team visited Mumbi Village in Petauke District in Eastern Province, where they were taken on a tour by children to a tree nursery funded by Love Trees. In the same area the team also visited Manga Village and saw mango and jatropha trees purchased by Love Trees three years ago growing beautifully beside houses and outside the school.

In southern Zambia, we visited two more schools outside Livingstone. We also toured a commercial tree nursery that may also be able to supply trees for our future projects in the region. After many meetings we came back with a better understanding of the challenges of doing tree planting projects and environmental education in Zambia. We are more inspired than ever to give children in Zambia trees. One thing is certain, Zambia needs trees, according to the UN food agency, the  Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Zambia is among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest annual deforestation rate.

(left: drawing of Baobab tree in Zambia by Avery, 6) 

Children plant Love Trees in Kenya.  On October 29, 2011, Tuele Kenya children participated in a mango tree planting ceremony. Teule Kenya works with with orphaned and vulnerable children in Nairobi, Kenya.

Wangari Maathai : The ChariTREE Foundation and Love Trees will give children in Kenya and Zambia a mango tree in honour of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai. We have also been decorating trees with recycled paper hummingbirds in her honour. (Watch Wangari Maathai’s hummingbird video) I will be a hummingbird.  I will do the best I can. ♥

Unexpected Good News!!! My Persephone (the Shannon Robinson song with lyrics and photo by Love Trees executive director Andrea Koehle Jones) made the Jango “Top 10 Airplay bands” list last week (September 13, 2011 list). 

http://jangoairplay.blogspot.com/A portion of proceeds from iTunes downloads of the song support Love Trees children’s tree projects in Africa. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/my-persephone-single/id394007147

• Give a bear. Plant a Tree. Hug a tree… and a bear!Noble, the Love Trees Bear, has arrived. For every bear purchased, Winston Roland will donate a portion of proceeds to Love Trees tree planting programs around the world. This adorable bear comes with a removable plush Noble Spruce seedling so kids can pretend to plant trees! Note: Not suitable for children under 3. To order Noble email: [email protected]
• HostPapa helps Love Trees give 10,000 children fruit trees in Zambia and Malawai.
• Every day is Earth Day at ChariTREE: Free trees to kids across Canada.
• Free children’s tree planting program in honour of the UN International Year of Forests.
• HostPapa Green Web Hosting partners with Love Trees for Earth Day promotion.
• Hébergement vert HostPapa s’associe à Love Trees pour la promotion du Jour de la terre.
• Coming soon: ♥ Noble, the Love Trees Bear…
• Centon Electronics, Inc. and Staples are pleased to announce they are partnering with The ChariTREE Foundation to support children’s tree planting projects and environmental education programs throughout Canada.
• Love Trees partner Bamboobino is putting together a basket of goodies for a family in need. You could win a similar basket by entering through the Bamboobino Facebook page! Goodies are donated by The Survival Guide for Rookie Moms, Love Trees, Green Planet Parties, Sweet Earth Photographics, Momma Nature, Shiatsu by Francesca, Silkberry Baby, Gymboree, Movies forMommies, Lunapads, Momcafe, & Green News Network!
• Love Trees has partnered with Trees for the Future to plant 5,000 trees in Haiti.
• The Wish Trees, the children’s tree planting book written by Love Trees executive director Andrea Koehle Jones and illustrated by Alicia Padrón, has just been added to the Rainforest Heroes: Rainforest-safe book list: http://www.rainforestheros.com/es/readinglist
• Love Trees partnered with Urban Promise to plant trees with inner city kids in Camden New Jersey (America’s most dangerous city) this fall. To learn more about Urban Promise and what life is like for kids in Camden, watch this 20/20 Diane Sawyer Special:

Waiting on the World to Change: The Hopes, Dreams and Hardships of Children in America’s Most Dangerous City.

• Love Trees has partnered with African Community Project again and donated another 1,500 fruit and indigenous trees to children in Zambia. By December, Love Trees will have a total of 3,000 fruit and moringa trees growing in Zambia.

• My Persephone featuring talented Canadian singer/songwriter Shannon Robinson  is now on iTunes and cdbaby. Soulful and haunting, this is a song about love, loss and seasons of grieving. Lyrics by Andrea Koehle Jones, executive director of Love Trees, reflect our deep and fragile connection to trees. My Persephone is dedicated to everyone who loves trees and a portion of profits will be donated to Love Trees.

• Love Trees executive director, Andrea Koehle Jones, has been nominated for the Mom Entrepreneur Award.
• Love Trees mention in Home Makeover Magazine page#8 (June 2010): http://issuu.com/bivmediagroup/docs/hmo10-06
• Love Trees mention in The Vancouver Sun (June 2010): http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Banish+nasty+relax+deck+chair+from+local+woodworkers/2701510/story.html
• Love Trees mention on Luxe Interior (May 2010): http://luxeinterior.blogspot.com/2010/05/gallant-jones.html
• Love Trees mention in The Georgia Strait (April 2010): http://www.straight.com/article-301659/vancouver/classic-british-deck-chairs-go-west-coast-chic
• Love Trees and The ChariTREE Foundation are partnering with the Canadian Camping Association to plant 10,000 trees with campers this summer (April 2010): http://www.ccamping.org/index.php?id=3&nid=29
• Love Trees (April 2010) mention on The FLOW: http://www.flow935.com/blogs/themiddaybreakblog/?p=1070
• Love Trees mention: 29-Day Giving Challenge – Green birthday party and green gift (March 2010) http://www.29gifts.org/group/greenergiving/forum/topics/green-birthday-party-and?xg_source=activity
• Love Trees March 2010 mention on Design Sponge Online: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/03/gallant-jones-handmade-deck-chairs.html
• Love Trees Four Seasons of Green mention (Feb 2010) http://www.fourseasonsofgreen.com/tara-blog/politics-in-action
• Love Trees plants thousands of trees while giving kids the skills to change the world (Jan 2010 United Nations article): http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/campaignNews/Lovetrees.asp
• Love Trees Dec 2009 Canada.com and The North Shore News article: http://www.canada.com/northshorenews/news/story.html?id=bb9c458c-8c56-4e20-a1b9-612e40349c85
• Love Trees Divine Women mention: Express your love with these Christmas ideas (Dec 2009) http://www.thedivinewomen.com/main.php?section=viewblog&channel=04&bid=491
• COP-15 photos by Love Trees executive director on BBC (scroll to polar bears taking time to relax): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8410278.stm
• Love Trees OP-ed: HOPELESS IN HOPENHAGEN (Dec 2009) http://www.opednews.com/a/104078?show=votes#allcomments
• Love Trees mention on The Necessary Revolution: http://ryanflood.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/trees-i’ve-got-trees/
• Love Trees mention on Bamboobino (ongoing) http://www.bamboobino.com/links.php
• Love Trees June 2009 Canada.com and North Shore News article: http://www2.canada.com/northshorenews/news/story.html?id=c544cb08-c32a-4c33-8cc5-08b99f5ad33e

• The Wish Trees by Andrea Koehle Jones, executive director of Love Trees, was mentioned in Positively Green Magazine.