Fourth-Grade Program Will See Trees Grow in Thornwood
The Lions Club participates in various programs throughout the year to improve the quality of life in the communities it serves. This year the Thornwood Lions started a new effort that they hope will pay dividends for decades to come.
For the first time, the local chapter of the service organization sponsored the Fourth Grade Foresters USA program, an initiative for business leaders and community groups to care for their town and the environment by providing students with trees to plant.
Recently, the Thornwood Lions visited Columbus Elementary School’s fourth-graders and handed out 169 individually packaged Norway Spruces that currently measure between 12 and 18 inches. Decades in the future they could grow to as tall as 80 feet under the right conditions.
“We just thought to try and work with the school district and what better day than Arbor Day, which is today,” said Thornwood Lions Club President Emil Muccin. “We hope they will plant them around their house and then one day remember us and give back to the community later on themselves.”
Principal Michael Cunzio said schools throughout the United States have been participating in the program and he was pleased that the Lions Club reached out to the school. He hopes that it will be an annual event.
“I’m actually very happy,” Cunzio said. “The kids were really excited about the opportunity to get these saplings, little trees, so we’re pleased that the Lions thought of us and had the opportunity to do this.”
Plus, planting trees is also a simple and inexpensive way to improve the quality of life in a community.
“This project is made possible because community business people like the Thornwood Lions covered the cost of each of the individually packaged evergreen trees, so that there is no cost to the students, the teachers, the school, or the taxpayer,” added Debra Ersch, co-founder of the Fourth Grade Foresters Project. “It’s a wonderful way to show support for the community, education and the environment.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
