The East Hawaii Outdoor Circle gave away 1,000 fruit trees this weekend.
The organization, which is dedicated to protecting and improving Hawaii’s environment, spent Saturday giving out fruit trees in Hilo, Waimea and Waikoloa.
After the 2018 Kilauea eruption caused lava damage in Puna, the Arbor Day Foundation reached out to EHOC to start the tree-giving initiative as a recovery program for the island.
“We have been partnered with the national nonprofit, Arbor Day Foundation, to give away fruit trees to increase food security and put more green on people’s properties,” said program director Myles Ritchie. “It has been successful, and they’ve kept the initiative going for four years now.”
Volunteers from the corporate sponsor, State Farm, and EHOC on Friday and Saturday gave away 26 different species of trees, such as ulu, avocado, lychee and citrus.
The Hilo location gave away about 775 fruit trees from Plant It Hawaii in Kurtistown and AAO Farms in Honomu.
Since the program is grant based from the Arbor Day Foundation, EHOC does not know if there will be a giveaway next year, but leadership is hopeful.
“Outdoor Circle has been around for 110 years, and we’re so happy to be able to celebrate that anniversary doing this,” said EHOC secretary Joan Gossett. “If all goes well, we’ll be able to do this for a fifth year, because there is a need.”
According to Ritchie, the majority of tree loss in Hawaii is on private property.
“We want to increase the health of the urban forest and change the mentality around the need for trees,” Ritchie said. “This will help with local food security and will re-green properties.”
More information about the organization and annual tree giveaway can be found at https://www.outdoorcircle.org/east-hawaii-island.html. EHOC also posts announcements on its social media pages.