File photo
Eighty new street trees will be planted in the Wrigley neighborhood come Saturday as volunteers take part in the Thomas Murphy Memorial Tree Planting.
Part of the “I Dig Long beach” project funded by the Port of Long Beach (POLB), the trees will add to the now two-year-old campaign that aims to create urban forests throughout the city by planting 6,000 trees by 2020. The initiative was kicked off in February 2013 at Silverado Park and seeks to create urban forests throughout Long Beach, which would help absorb greenhouse gases, provided wildlife habitat, cool land surface and increase property values.
The Thomas Murphy Memorial Tree Planting is named after a lifetime neighborhood resident and outspoken community activist who, according to the release, was said to have never missed a single council meeting in 15 years.
“He was the eyes and ears of the community,” said former City Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga in a statement.
The tree planting event will bring together over 20 organizations and businesses within the community, including Westland Real Estate Group who will be passing out water bottles to volunteers.
“We are always on the lookout for opportunities to participate in worthwhile local causes,” said Yanki Greenspan, Westland’s CEO, in a statement. “So when the event planners approached us we were happy to pitch in.”
This will be the third tree planting event since the POLB’s “I Dig Long Beach” campaign began in 2013. For more information, click here.