Last week, Peter Weiss, one of our awesome Outreach Volunteers, and I represented TreePeople at the Pacoima Forward Community Fair at Hadden Elementary School. The event was lovely; lots of folks from the school community and the surrounding neighborhood attended.

People were really enthusiastic about becoming TreePeople volunteers and signing up for our classes on tree planting, rainwater harvesting, and native plants. The best part of the day though was watching the kids get so excited about our watershed suitcase demonstration, which explains why and how trees are important to our local aquifers.

It was such an encouraging and inspiring day. I love doing these kinds of events, and we here at TreePeople try to participate in as many such opportunities as possible. After all, the only way we’ll continue to grow is by ever widening our circle of volunteers, champions, and donors. Without passionate advocates like Peter we wouldn’t be able to be attend nearly as many events. We’d miss out on fun community fairs like Pacoima Forward and festivals like the Santa Monica and Green Festivals. We might not make it to Jack Johnson concerts or any of the annual Earth Day activities.

And each time we miss one of these great events, we lose an opportunity to spread the word about TreePeople. So, the more Outreach Volunteers we have, the greater our reach, and the more good we can do.

That’s why I’m thrilled we’re hosting another Outreach Volunteer Training Session this Saturday, February 1st. We’ll spend the morning sharing our history, techniques, programs, and outreach tools and skills with a wonderful new group of TreePeople ambassadors. I know it’s going to be another encouraging and inspiring day.

If you believe in TreePeople’s mission and are interested in learning more about becoming a member of our Outreach Team, please join me at the training this Saturday, February 1st from 9am to 1pm at Coldwater Canyon Park. I promise it’s a wonderful way to start the day, and we really need more Peters.