for your littlest eaters - Radish Magazine

healthy living
A voice for trees
Trees Forever connects volunteers with natural areas
Volunteers of all ages work together at a tree planting in Des Moines. (Submitted)
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By Ann Scholl Rinehart
Recently, Shannon Ramsay and her 32-year-old daughter Anne visited the Iowa
state capital in Des Moines. One reason for the outing: to take in the walnut
trees that Anne helped plant with her brother some 20 years ago when she was just
10 years old.
Not only were the 40-foot trees significant for her daughter, they were also
noteworthy for Ramsay. The trees were the first large-scale project for Trees
Forever, the nonprofit organization that Ramsay, 57, co-founded in 1989. The
organization’s goal: to connect people to the environment through the planting
and caring of trees, prairie and other natural areas.
Since its inception, Trees Forever has spearheaded more than 4,000 planting
projects involving more than 160,000 volunteers who have helped to plant more
than 2.8 million trees and shrubs throughout Iowa and Illinois.
Ramsay, who is CEO of Trees Forever, started the organization with a friend.
“We started as volunteers,” recalls Ramsay, from her Marion, Iowa, office, located
on the upper level of a bank. “We started it because there really wasn’t a voice for
trees and forests.”
They had immediate support in the way of donations and volunteers. “People
wanted to get involved,” she says. So did communities and utility companies, like
Alliant Energy, Black Hills Energy, and Muscatine Power & Water.
Within two years of starting the organization, Ramsay was receiving a small
stipend. Like the trees the organization has planted, Ramsay has seen Trees Forever
grow and change over time. So has her role. As a volunteer, she was busy helping
with programs out in the communities, coordinating local efforts and supporting
volunteers. Now as chief executive officer, her role is more focused on managing a
staff of 22 and working with donors and the board of directors.
“It’s very rewarding,” she says. “Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself
how far we’ve come. It’s been a collective, positive experience — many people and
organizations working together. If I get discouraged or cynical, sometimes I go
back through media clippings and look at all the wonderful things local communities
have accomplished with help from Trees Forever.”
She could also get in her car and drive just a short distance to see reminders
of the good that Trees Forever has done over the years. She speaks of Anamosa,
Iowa, where her children went to school. She recalls Future Farmers of America
students helping to plant a large windbreak at the high school there. The effort
also included planting trees at the community center, along streets and at the ballpark
in town.
“Empowering volunteers” is Ramsay’s passion. “If volunteers have funding
and tools, they can do so much,” she says.
She pulls out a faded organizational chart that was created at Trees Forever’s
inception. “A lot of key people have helped grow this organization. It’s a worthy