Planting Trees for Earth Day at Pleasantville Elem.

L – R: Constable Jerry Garcia (holding tree), LSG Sky Chefs volunteers: Becky Barrios (HR Manager), Jesse Barrios, Jessica Gongora, Tarush Nihalani, Guillermina Wisniewski, Trees for Houston rep’s. Marita Tee, Natalie Jones, (Projects & Volunteer Coordinator), Kenachel Williams, Isa Mineros, Cheryl Willis (former Holland student/Furr HS volunteer), Shannon Scott (Holland MS Ag teacher), Averi Steen, Cleopatra Vaughn, Katherine Newton (Trees for Houston Projects Director). (Photo by Linda Jamail)

By Allan Jamail

Houston, TX. – Saturday, April 30, 2022 volunteers from all over the county showed up at the North Channel Pleasantville Elementary School to celebrate Earth Day with tree plantings and donating trees to citizens to take home to plant. Pleasantville Elementary School hosted a “Tree Planting and 500 Tree Giveaway.”

The event was a coordinated effort by Trees For Houston, LSG Sky Chefs, Lufthansa Cargo (Lufthansa Group parent company), Constable Jerry Garcia, retired or active teachers of HISD’s schools from Holland, Pleasantville, Furr including current and former students.

Natalie Jones, Project & Volunteer Coordinator, said, “Trees For Houston is a local non-profit that plants trees all around Houston and surrounding areas. The organization has planted 620,000 trees since its inception 40 years ago. Trees For Houston has many different programs including Trees For Schools, Free Tree Giveaways and tree donations. We planted 30 trees at Pleasantville elementary funded by Lufthansa. The species planted were American Sycamore, Bald Cypress, Red Maple and Sweetbay Magnolia.”

Becky Barrios, Human Resources Manager, said, “LSG Sky Chefs is an airline catering company at Bush Airport. Volunteers from Lufthansa Cargo, our sister company, also participated in the event (not in picture). We have been in business for over 50 years. Lufthansa Group is our parent company, who provided the trees for the tree planting event hosted by Pleasantville Elementary.”

Event Coordinator Cheryl Willis, Pleasantville Community Activist, said “The trees planted will allow the young Scholars at Pleasantville Elementary School to appreciate nature and provide shading throughout the campus; as well as very much needed shading on their playground. It was an honor to see former students come back to support this event: Jarisbeth Melgar, Noel Trejo, and Sir Genesis Caldwell (former Holland students/Energy Institute HS students). Special thanks to: Natalie Jones, Nancy Edwards, Sherra Aguirre, Travis Weddle, Bridgiette Murray, Deborah Adams, the entire Pleasantville community for their continuous support to make this event a HUGE SUCCESS!”