Cash and In-kind Donations Totaling More than $250,000 Received in Past Four Weeks
Tree by Tree – The Mile High Million (MHM) continues to grow as
more than a half-dozen organizations have contributed to the initiative in the past month.
Most recently, XP Companies, Inc., announced that it has committed a minimum of 250 trees to the MHM over the next five years. XP is a Denver-based apparel/licensing company whose clients/partners include the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, United States Olympic Committee, Tour de France and many more. XP is currently working with all of the major sports leagues and universities to establish a "green program" of licensed apparel that is extremely eco-friendly. In making the donation, XP Companies’ president said that he is committed to help neutralize the impact of XP’s own carbon emissions and encourages other Colorado companies to do the same.
In November, SMG, Inc., responsible for oversight of the Colorado Convention Center, donated to MHM the cost of 100 trees in honor of their top conventions, exhibitions and large meetings that took place in 2007.
Also in November, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau donated to the MHM the cost of 25 trees to be planted on behalf of their members and clients in lieu of mailing holiday cards. Their members and clients were made aware of the request by an electronic card. The 25 trees will be planted along Auraria Parkway in spring 2008.
The Downtown Denver Business Improvement District (BID) has committed to donating $100,000 in-kind for The Delegate Project, which will plant 56 trees in existing empty tree vaults within the boundaries of the downtown BID area (roughly Speer Blvd. to 20th Street) in support of the 56 delegations coming to Denver for the Democratic National Convention. Denver Parks + Recreation is currently working to identify 56 trees which will thrive in the Colorado environment that represent trees from each delegation’s home state or territory. EDAW, an international architectural and environmental consulting company with offices in Denver, is donating their services to assist the BID in accomplishing their 56 delegate tree planting and to design the planting along Auraria Parkway, which will include the trees sponsored by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Finally, on December 9 and 10, Staples donated $1 from each sale at ten different locations to Tree by Tree – the Mile High Million. A total of $4,500 was collected for the initiative, with Staples adding an additional $5,500 for a total donation of $10,000.
“Denver’s reputation as an environmentally-friendly city continues to grow because of support from area businesses such as these,” said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. “We have experienced incredible donations and underwriting of this initiative, beginning with our first major sponsor, Suncor, and growing each month. Just as the Mile High Million will happen tree by tree, its success will happen business by business. ”
Tree by Tree – Mile High Million is a
metro wide initiative to plant one million trees in the metro area by 2025. The initiative was launched in 2006 by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper as part of the Greenprint Denver program and is administered by Denver Parks + Recreation. For more information, call Denver 311 or visit
www.greenprintdenver.org.