The Lakers, East West Bank, TreePeople, community and state partners work to tear out 4,000 square feet of asphalt and plant 30 trees on school campus.
Los Angeles, Calif.— Julius Randle, the Lakers Girls, and East West Bank will join with TreePeople staff, partners and over 100 volunteers on Saturday, March 14th, to transform 20th Street Elementary School’s urban campus. More than 4,000 square feet of impermeable asphalt has been removed to make way for a total of 30 Raywod Ash, Australian Willow and Crape Mertyle trees to grace the schoolyard and provide some needed shade and nature. The tree planting is part of the Lakers Trees for Threes eco-initiative. East West Bank has pledged to plant a tree in Los Angeles for every three pointer made by the Lakers team at STAPLES Center. The 30 trees planted on Saturday are just some of the trees earned by the Lakers this season.
Participates of the tree planting event pose for a picture (provided to bostonese.com).
TreePeople helps and guides motivated principals, teachers, students and parents to form a campus Green Team at each partner school to identify and implement sustainable plans that can be incorporated into the curriculum and project based learning. The Team ensures the planting is done properly and the installed trees have an ongoing maintenance plan. Classrooms adopt the trees, along with The Green Team to stay involved in the trees’ care and instill stewardship for the environment in school children.
“These joint efforts are critical to the health of Los Angeles. Our city is reliant on trees and natural spaces to cool our city, collect precious rainwater, clean our air, create healthier soil and for an all-around more sustainable city,” TreePeople’s Director of Engagement of Partnerships,
Torin Dunnavant said. “It is wonderful to see the community and local partners come together to make our neighborhoods more livable and green.”
20th Street Elementary sits in a low canopy coverage area of the city, so these planted trees are sure to provide much-needed shade, cleaner air and natural beauty to the school’s urban backdrop along with giving the students an opportunity to learn how to care for and value our urban forests.
TreePeople thanks the funding efforts of the school itself, Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Angeles Conservation Corps, State of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection(CAL FIRE). Saldana Landscape and Irrigation also was a major contributor, donating their expertise and labor to prep the campus for the big day.
About TreePeople
TreePeople is an environmental nonprofit that unites the power of trees, people, and nature-based solutions to grow a sustainable future for Los Angeles. For over 40 years, TreePeople has worked with communities to plant and care for trees and has provided environmental education for an estimated 2 million LA area children.
About East West Bank
East West Bancorp is a publicly owned company with $28.5 billion in assets and is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “EWBC”. The Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is one of the largest independent banks headquartered in California. East West is a premier bank focused exclusively on the United States and Greater China markets and operates over 130 locations worldwide, including in the United States markets of California, Georgia, Nevada, New York, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington. In Greater China, East West’s presence includes a full service branch in Hong Kong and representative offices in Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Taipei and Xiamen. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary bank, East West’s presence in Greater China also includes full service branches in Shanghai and Shantou and a representative office in Guangzhou. For more information on East West Bancorp, visit the Company’s website at www.eastwestbank.com.