| TreePeople |
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BACKGROUND
TreePeople’s mission is to inspire the people of Los Angeles to take personal responsibility for the urban forest – educating, training and supporting them as they plant and care for trees and improve the neighborhoods in which they live, work, and play. To fulfill this mission, TreePeople provides direct education and community building.
TreePeople's efforts began in 1969 when founder Andy Lipkis, then 15-years old, learned that Los Angeles smog was killing the trees in the San Bernardino Mountains. Gaining the support of local media and school-age friends, he led the effort to pull up an old camp parking lot and plant a grove of smog tolerant tree seedlings. By 1973, a non-profit organization was born. Since then, nearly two million trees have been planted in Southern California - by volunteers - in wilderness areas, neighborhoods, around low-income homes and on school campuses. Today, sustained by a staff of 50 educators, foresters and administrators, TreePeople continues to open the minds of more than 200,000 students, citizens and community leaders to the union of Southern California's wilderness and urban environments.
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