Trees for Life

I love trees and really appreciate Trees for Life. I think of them as a peace corps for trees. They empower women, men, and children in developing countries to learn how to plant trees that nurture and nourish them with food and wood. Often these areas have long been deforested and the villages left with few resources. Tree by tree, they are making the world a better place.

I've contributed to this group, read stories of the work they do, and corresponded with them for about 25 years. If you've ever wanted to give back for the paper you write on, the air you breath, shade, or the nourishment of your body and spirit that trees give, then I can recommend this group. Read the following story they sent me. Even a small action can make a tremendous impact!

There is an ancient story of a king in India...

...who, being very pleased with a man, told him to ask for any gift. The man asked him to place a gold coin on one of the squares of a chess board and then merely double the amount on each subsequent square. That is, put two on the next square and four on the next square and so on.

"Oh, that's not enough, ask for more," the king said in his generosity.

The man insisted that was all he wanted. They king could not realize that by the time he got to only the 32nd square, the cumulative number of gold coins would total an amazing 8,589,934,591. (8 1/2 Billion)

Trees for Life says: One lesson of the story is: if each one of us inspired two others to plant a tree and they, in turn, inspired two others, think what the cumulative effect would be. In only 32 "moves" it's quite possible that an amazing 8,589,934,591 trees can be planted.

That is something within our reach.

Go ahead! Make the first move. Help plant the first tree and share the information so others can do the same. Who knows? The move you make may be the one that helps plant the next million trees.