500 New Trees for Near Eastside--KIB and Chase Team Up, Dig In

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Linda Broadfoot
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc.
o: 317.264.7555 x112
c: 317.223.5181

Indianapolis, IN – Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIB) will dig into an ambitious project on Saturday, May 15, on the City’s Eastside planting native trees within the Pogue’s Run conservation corridor. The project is made possible through a $100,000 grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to purchase 500 trees to be planted on the City’s Near Eastside. Saturday’s project will focus on native tree plantings to improve the 40 acre wet-land that runs on the northeast side of Indianapolis.

Photo Opportunity:
• Who: Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. and 100 Chase employees
• What: Tree Planting
• Where: Spades Park, (1800 Nowland, near Brookside Parkway and Rural)
• When: Saturday, May 15, 9 AM - NOON

Beginning at 9am, representatives from the neighborhood, KIB and Chase will gather to launch the partnership. The trees planted Saturday will count towards the goal of 2,012 trees on the City’s Eastside. The “2,012 by 2012” tree planting initiative is a partnership between the Indianapolis 2012 Host Committee, Near Eastside Legacy Project and KIB. The intent of the initiative is to plant 2,012 trees on the Near Eastside by the 2012 Super Bowl. This is an extension of KIB’s NeighborWoods program; an urban forestry effort that aims to plant 100,000 trees by 2017.

JPMorgan Chase Foundation is also funding a Near Eastside Youth Tree Team. The Youth Tree Team (YTT) is a 10-week summer program that employs Indianapolis high school students and adults. The Team’s main responsibly is to preserve and maintain the trees that are planted on public spaces through KIB’s NeighborWoods program. The team spends about 20 hours per week watering, mulching, pruning, and staking trees. In 2009 the Youth Tree Team watered over 2,000 trees each week. Trees planted on Saturday will be maintained throughout the year by members of the Youth Tree Team.

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful has been working with Indy Parks to be a driving force in ongoing efforts to improve this environmental corridor on the eastside. The group has already brought together neighbors from the surrounding areas to remove two acres of invasive honeysuckle, and have assisted Indy Parks in removing honeysuckle around the Brookside Family Center. Less than a month ago, groups from the area came together to plant 150 native trees in Spades Park.

Pogue’s Run flows along the northeast side of Indianapolis through Brookside Parkway and then continues south in underground aqueducts that cut through downtown and eventually merge into the White River. It is the hope that the planted trees and increased wildlife along Pogue’s Run will help preserve the conservation corridor, add natural beauty to the surrounding neighborhood, increase quality of life, inspire other ecologically minded projects and educate individuals on the importance of conservation.

About Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc.:
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIB) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit engaging neighborhoods in environmental and community improvement projects throughout the city. Last year, KIB engaged over 40,000 volunteers on projects around the city. The mission of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. is to unite people to build community and transform public spaces through aesthetic and environmental improvement. To learn more, visit www.kibi.org.

About Chase:
With 193 branches in Indiana, Chase provides consumers and business the most banking convenience in the state. Its parent company, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. For more information, go to www.chase.com.

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