One of the simplest ways to connect with nature is to plant a tree. And ChariTREE is a small Canadian registered charity that helps young children do exactly that.

“Our entire focus is giving trees to children,” says founder and executive director Andrea Koehle Jones.

“If they plant the tree, it’s empowering them, too. It makes them think positively – that they’re helping the planet, and that they have power to make it a better place.”

Jones founded ChariTREE on Earth Day, 2006. She has since delivered more than 30,000 trees to Canadian schools and summer camps.

“The teachers come to me and they ask for trees,” she explains. “They’re already teaching kids great things about the environment, but they don’t have the money to be buying trees, or the time to search out the right species and have them shipped in. So we do that work for them for free.”

If a school is short of trees on its property, the planting can happen there. If not, children can take their saplings home – and have their own tree growing with them throughout their lives.

“One of the biggest things about what I’m doing is trying to get kids outside more – giving them more opportunities to connect to nature.  I grew up in Toronto, and now I live on a tree-covered island in British Columbia.  Many children won’t get that opportunity. So giving them a tree – putting a tree in their hands – is an opportunity to get them outside at the simplest level.”

Kids planting their trees at summer camp get to see it every summer when they return. This gives them a tangible sense of how nature works over time.

“Research studies show kids have much more confidence if they get time to spend outside,” Jones notes.  “Pull them away from the TV. Get them away from the video games.  

“The tree is just a tool for the greater cause of getting kids back outside.”  

For more info – or to make a donation, visit charitree.ca.