Los Angeles, Calif., April 5, 2016, — Staff and volunteers from East West Bank, TreePeople and Koreatown Youth and Community Center joined together on April 2 to plant street trees in the West Adams neighborhood of South Los Angeles. More than 100 volunteers participated, with expert staff on hand to ensure that the 30 trees are well planted. The newly planted trees matched trees that had been already planted in the area and are ideal for the narrow parkways of the neighborhood. Volunteers and staff will also care for trees that were recently planted in the area with watering, mulching and weeding.
“West Adams is one of the neighborhoods in Los Angeles that needs trees the most. Neighborhoods that have fewer trees are hotter in the summer, and are more likely to suffer from air pollution issues,” Koreatown Youth and Community Center （KYCC）’s Environmental Services Manager, Ryan Allen said.
One hundred trees were also be available for community residents to plant at home as part of City Plants’ tree adoption program. TreePeople staff was on-hand leading tree planting and tree care workshops.
“We’re inspired by the opportunity to help the community come together to create a healthier neighborhood,” TreePeople’s Director of Engagement and Partnerships, Torin Dunnavant said. “Bringing City Plants, KYCC and TreePeople together to combine talents shows how we can create a more sustainable LA together.”
For the Lakers and East West Bank, this event is the culmination of the season long Trees For Threes program, which pledges to plant a tree in the community for every three pointer made by a Lakers player at STAPLES Center. Some of the over 250 trees earned by the Lakers this season will be represented at this event. The remainder will be planted or distributed by Tree People throughout 2016.
TreePeople is a 43-year-old environmental nonprofit uniting the power of trees, people, and nature-based solutions to grow a more climate-resilient city. The organization inspires, engages and supports Angelenos to take personal responsibility for the urban environment, facilitates collaboration among government agencies, and promotes leadership by grassroots volunteers, students and communities. For more information, visit treepeople.org.
The mission of KYCC is to serve the evolving needs of the Korean American population in the greater Los Angeles area as well as the multi-ethnic Koreatown community. KYCC’s programs and services are directed toward recently immigrated, economically disadvantaged youth and families, and promote community socioeconomic empowerment.
City Plants is a non-profit in partnership with the City of Los Angeles, LADWP, and six community based tree-planting partners. City Plants works to expand and maintain LA’s green canopy, with particular focus on low-canopy communities; to create jobs, and to grow a more sustainable city. Toward those ends, they provide trees to LA residents, plant street trees in the City of LA, and educate and train community members in maintaining and caring for their canopy.
East West Bancorp, Inc. is a publicly owned company with total assets of $32.4 billion 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, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Texas and Washington. In Greater China, East West’s presence includes full service branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shantou and Shenzhen, and representative offices in Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Taipei and Xiamen. For more information on East West, visit the Company’s website at www.eastwestbank.com.