Coming off a season in which the Portland Timbers set a new MLS club record for goals scored—61 in league play and 83 total across all competitions—it should come as little surprise that the club’s Stand Together “Score A Goal, Plant A Tree” partnership with Friends of Trees and sponsored by JELD-WEN Windows and Doors, should make for a busy day.
This past Saturday, Timbers midfielder Steven Evans, Timber Joey, and club staff combined with specialists from Friends of Trees to join over 200 volunteers from the Timbers Army to plant 140 new trees in the Montavilla and Mt. Tabor neighborhoods in SE Portland.
Though a strong Portland rain greeted the volunteers upon arrival, the group made short work of their tree plantings as they worked together.
- VISIT: Friends of Trees
Rachel Etnire and Nicholas Garner, two Timbers supporters who often volunteer for the Timbers Army and 107 Independent Supporters Trust, were eager to lend a hand.
“You give back to your community, your community gives back to others and then it comes back to you,” said Etnire. “It’s all about how much the community does for other people.”
As she stayed busy digging holes and moving dirt, her friend Garner wholeheartedly agreed.
“It’s fun. It’s good to get out, do nice things, get some exercise, get outside,” he said. “I’m kind of big into Gandhi’s ideas on direct action: ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’”
Will Johnson's volley against Vancouver
The yearly tree planting has been a unique partnership between the Timbers, Friends of Trees and JELD-WEN since the club joined MLS in 2011. Each year, the club has worked with Friends of Trees and volunteers to plant trees across the city as part of an urban forestry program. Neighborhoods benefit from having the new trees in helping cut down on air conditioning costs in nearby buildings, beautifying the area as well as removing harmful chemicals from the ground all while reducing greenhouse gases.
Moreover, while 140 trees were planted in total this weekend, specially tagged trees commemorate each of the Timbers goals scored during the 2014 season.
“People can walk past and see what goal it was connected back to,” said Friends of Trees Neighborhood Trees Manager Whitney Dorer.
“It’s a direct way of connecting something like a goal to this improvement piece in a neighborhood. I think it’s really a creative way of looking at this type of sports/trees planting relationship.”
Recently returned from a community and forestry conference in Charlotte, N.C., Dorer said that they gave a presentation on the program and that numerous other cities were taking notice.
“A lot of people nationally are thinking, ‘I want to do that in my own city to make this type of partnership happen,’” she said.
As the rain cleared and the trees stood tall, the volunteers were able to proudly appreciate their hard work. Bill Hueffner, JELD-WEN’s vice president and a busy volunteer on the day, summed it up.
“As citizens of Portland we are proud of our current canopy of trees and happy to partner with such great organizations to increase that footprint,” he said.
