Students from David Douglas High School's Immigrant and Refugee programs, homeowners receiving trees, neighbors, Friends of Trees staff and volunteers, and IKEA employees whose company sponsored the event, participated in a planting in outer Northeast Portland on a wet, cold Saturday morning a few weeks ago.  I joined a crew planting in the Argay neighborhood.  I had been planning to bail out after helping with a couple of sites, as I had a huge backlog of constituent emails awaiting my attention.  The weather was so nasty, and the young people on my crew so enthusiastic, that I ended up staying to help plant all 12 trees.

The David Douglas students to the left are Maria Hernandez and Cintia Ponce-Ulloa.  They were really, really good sports - I did far more whining and complaining about the weather and mud than they did.

All photographs by staff from DDHS, who also participated gamely. 

Anne Downing, amazing David Douglas High School teacher of English as a Second Language.  More than 50 immigrant and refugee youth participated in three Friends of Trees plantings this year.  Staff helped kit them out in boots, raincoats, etc., since some had never participated in anything like this in their previous countries.

My boots and shovel, proving I did in fact help with the planting, as well as speaking at the opening rally at Eastminster Church in the Russell neighborhood.