Our City Forest - Planting Our Future Document

Olivero cites Berry, Our City Forest as Good Neighbors

Willow Glen Times, Feb 2008

Pierluigi Oliverio recognized Our City Forest and its president, Rhonda Berry (right), as District 6 Good Neighbors during the community honoree section of the State of the City Program.

Oliverio honored the organization and its president for its commitment to the environment and the community since its 1994 inception. Part of the reason for Our City Forest’s success has been Berry’s professionalism blended with her passion about her organization that allows her to find the best solution, he said.

The organization is committed to cultivating a greener, healthier urban environment and a renewed sense of community by involving Silicon Valley residents in the understanding, planting and care of the urban forest.

Our City Forest has received numerous awards including its second Gold Leaf award recognizing outstanding event coordination and beautification. The Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (WCISA) annually selects local agencies, nonprofits, neighborhood groups and individuals to receive the award.

Since 1994, Our City Forest has facilitated planting of 40,000 15-gallon shade trees throughout San Jose schools, parks and streets; developed a corps of 300 trained volunteers called Tree Amigos; provided 8,000 free shade trees to 200 area schools and 40 city parks; mobilized more than 100,000 community volunteers to participate in more than 1,000 projects; developed a tree patrol program to track young trees for three years; maintained a 90 percent tree survival rate and leveraged more than $5 million in tree grants for San Jose neighborhoods.