Explanation
Green Columbus is a sustainability-focused nonprofit striving to activate volunteer engagement, grow equitable tree canopy coverage, and foster resilient communities. The organization maintains two tree nurseries. Throughout the year, they host volunteer activities to plant, care for, and distribute trees at no cost to residents of the community. In the fall, they distribute trees from their Linden nursery, Hilltop nursery, and many community partners. Each April, Green Columbus coordinates hundreds of volunteer worksites. These events bring thousands of volunteers together to remove litter, plant trees, and so much more. In order to celebrate the work of their volunteers and sponsors, Green Columbus hosts an annual Earth Day celebration on the banks of the Scioto.
The organization has recently undertaken many efforts to program their annual Earth Month celebrations, all while enduring the challenge of losing their sponsor in light of Covid-19. Green Columbus had a need for bagged mulch and topsoil to be donated to community gardens and local conservation projects around Columbus, from which more than 40 organizations stood to benefit. Furthermore, the organization incurs costs related to the operation of its volunteer-supported Linden Tree Nursery; the Nursery grows approximately 3,000 native trees annually to be distributed to residents in support of the City's Urban Forestry Master Plan and Climate Action Plan, which recognizes the importance of a robust urban tree canopy to protect residents from hotter summers and harmful UV rays.
Finally, Green Columbus continues to experience growing demand for its Earth Month programming. In particular, the organization purchases thousands of native tree seedlings that are distributed to groups far and wide to be planted along riparian corridors, in Metro Parks, given away to students to plant, and grown in volunteer nurseries. In 2023, the organization broke their planting record with 72,000 seedlings plant...
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