Supported by a Healing the Planet grant from The GIANT Company and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful®, the City of Lancaster will get new trees this fall, planted by award-winning volunteers for the Keystone 10 Million Trees (K10) Partnership.
“The GIANT Company is pleased to partner with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful to provide a grant to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in support of its efforts to bring more trees to the Lancaster community,” said Courtney Hopcraft, manager of community relations and charitable giving for The GIANT Company. “Trees play a vital role in creating healthy communities and we are especially thrilled to see this grant benefit current and future students of McCaskey High School.”
The $4,000 Healing the Planet grant supports a tree planting in November at McCaskey High School, within the School District of Lancaster, led by Marlisa Yoder-Bontrager, and twin sisters Keisha and Tarsha Scovens. The three were recipients of the 2023 Mira Lloyd Dock Partnership Diversity Award, presented by the K10 Partnership, which is coordinated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF).
Dock Award winners were recognized for their conservation and Environmental Justice work in under-represented communities.
Each Dock Award winner will receive $5,000 for the planting and $1,000 for maintenance of the trees. Trees for the planting will come from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Tree Pennsylvania program, as well as the K10 Partnership.
Yoder-Bontrager’s portion of the project will also be supported by funding from the Frank Albrecht Memorial Fund. Frank Albrecht worked in the School District of Lancaster for more than 30 years, spending many years at McCaskey High School. He passed away from complications of ALS on August 24, at the age of 66.
Volunteers from the Lancaster community will help with the planting.
“More trees for the City of Lancaster provided by this new funding will be important for the health and welfare of local residents, as well as the Conestoga River,” said Julia Krall, Pennsylvania Executive Director for CBF. “We appreciate the support from The GIANT Company and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful®. With this funding, the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership and its Dock Award winners will contribute to the great work already happening in Lancaster County to reduce polluted runoff into local waters.”
McCaskey High School is located west of the Conestoga River, identified in the City of Lancaster’s Comprehensive Plan as a “polluted and neglected part of our city’s landscape for too long.” The trees will filter and absorb polluted runoff before it reaches the Conestoga River, which travels directly through the City of Lancaster. Students will have access to the trees and the health and wellbeing benefits that they provide.
Mira Lloyd Dock is recognized as the first Pennsylvania woman to lead the way in forest conservation. She was an advocate for Penn’s Woods and in 1901 was appointed to the State Forest Reservation Commission by Pennsylvania Governor William Stone.
The GIANT Company and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful awarded a total of $108,243 in support of 32 projects focused on tree planting projects. Funding for the grants was provided by customers at GIANT, MARTIN'S, and GIANT Heirloom Market stores who agreed to round up their grocery purchase to the nearest dollar from March through May.
Learn more about the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership.
