This Father's Day, show your appreciation and love for the fathers in your life with a tree gift! Your tree gift will not only serve as a symbol of your love but will steward our urban forests by supporting our tree planting, environmental education, and workforce development efforts. After making your tree gift online or by mail, Canopy will send a customized Father's Day e-card with a personalized message to your recipient and use your gift to grow our local urban forests.

To mitigate the effects of extreme heat and dry conditions during the Midpeninsula summer months, it’s important to keep our urban forests healthy. Through both the process of evapotranspiration and by providing shade, trees can significantly cool our cities and buildings, reducing the urban heat island effect and energy consumption. Trees also filter harmful air particulates, which worsen during the summer months.

When caring for our trees in the summer, it’s essential to water them efficiently and follow practices that prevent water loss. Check out these watering tips and tree care tips to ensure our trees are given what they need during the warm, dry summer months. All our communities are healthier, safer, and more resilient when our trees thrive!

Looking for another way to enjoy the trees in your community? Join one of these Canopy events!

Sat. 6/29: Young Tree Care Survey Training and Kick-Off



Sat. 6/29: Belle Haven Neighborhood Canvassing for Home Preservation and Trees Sign Ups (Sign up to volunteer here)

Sun. 6/30: Mountain View Farmers Market Pop-up: Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan

Sat. 7/13: Edible Urban Forest Tree Walk in Palo Alto (RSVP Here)

The Power of Trees

Paco Arreola

Miguel Baez

Over the past two years, Canopy has grown the Teen Urban Forester (TUF) program from three cohorts of 12 to 20! With that growth has come new opportunities for experienced TUFs to take on more responsibility and leadership. This summer, we are making a big change to the program as Teen Urban Foresters Paco Arreola and Miguel Baez have been selected to step into new roles as Teen Urban Forester Leads. As TUF Leads, Paco and Miguel will collaborate with our Youth Programs Manager Juanita Ibarra to lead and support the TUF Program. Congratulations, Paco and Miguel!

As our 2023-2024 planting season comes to an end, Canopy wants to thank our community and volunteers for helping grow our Midpeninsula urban forests! Check out some of our recent plantings and community events below. 

Planting Spotlight

Mountain View | May 16, 2024 - After 18 months of planning, Canopy and Alta Vista High School collaborated over two days to plant nine trees (valley oaks, silver lindens, and pacific wax myrtles) at the school's campus. Alta Vista High School (AVHS), an alternative high school in Mountain View serving the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District (MVLA) and the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD), abuts the Highway 85 traffic corridor along the east side of the campus. Students, staff and Canopy Board Member Mary Dateo worked together to design and bring much needed campus greening in a serenity garden and a vegetation barrier for Highway 85. Canopy wishes to thank Mentor Tutor Connection for key support and engagement with the planting and preparation, Mary Dateo for the design and implementation coordination, Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation for the seed funding to initiate this special project and Google for access to additional trees for the site. This was a truly collaborative community effort to bring trees where they are most needed!  

School Plantings

Palo Alto | May 2, 2024 - Canopy, Ohlone Elementary staff, and students (2nd-4th grade) and District staff planted three new trees on the PAUSD campus.

Palo Alto | May 8, 2024 - At Palo Verde Elementary School, Canopy staff, planting leaders, 5th grade students and teachers planted five trees. The tree planting was a gift to the school from the graduating 5th grade class. 

Neighborhood Plantings

Through the City of Palo Alto’s South Palo Alto Tree Initiative (SPATI), Canopy staff, planting leaders, Community Forestry School students, and volunteers from McKinsey and Amazon planted 11 additional trees in the Midtown and Greenmeadow Palo Alto neighborhoods in May.

Palo Alto | May 3, 2024 - Canopy staff, planting leaders and McKinsey volunteers planted four trees in the Midtown Palo Alto neighborhood.

Palo Alto | May 7, 2024 - Canopy staff, planting leaders, and Amazon volunteers planted four trees in the Greenmeadow neighborhood. 

East Palo Alto | May 8, 2024 - Our Teen Urban Foresters (TUFs) presented their spring project Canopy Roots, a podcast series that explores the interconnectedness of environmental and social justice in 11 episodes. Stay tuned for more information about streaming Canopy Roots!

Mountain View | May 30, 2024 - Our Adult Education Coordinator Desiree Humphers led a workshop about the benefits of trees at the Mountain View Senior Center. Following the workshop, Arborist Herb Fong led a wellness walk in Rengstorff Park. 

Celebrate Pride Month by supporting the environmental and social justice efforts of the LGBTQ+ community! Pride month is an opportunity for our communities to celebrate and actively support LGBTQ+ individuals who are frequently overlooked and marginalized in the mainstream environmental movement. Let’s work together this month to amplify LQBTQ+ environmentalists and shed light on the trailblazers who are fostering a greener, more equitable future for all! Happy Pride! 🌎 🏳️‍🌈

Local Events and Resources:

Celebrate Pride with San Mateo County Libraries



How Environmental and Climate Injustice Affects the LGBTQI+ Community

Catherine and Pierre Martineau

in memory of Urban Cummings

Cristina and Ray Shryver

in memory of Brooke Shryver

Kelly Stephens

in honor of Nancy Bandoni

Law-Sun Community Fund

in honor of Peying Lee

Johnson Family Foundation

Sponsors:

Canopy's mission is to grow the urban forest in Midpeninsula communities for the benefit of all.



Our vision is a day when every resident of the Midpeninsula can step outside to walk, play, and thrive under the shade of healthy trees.