As a public foundation, the Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes can attract, manage and grant funds, but like all charities, we pursue our own charitable projects. The charitable projects that we undertake see the Foundation playing a stronger role in program support, fundraising, marketing, education and at times, grant writing. The Canopy Project, and now Plant Kawartha, is an initiative where the Foundation plays a stronger role. 

In 2020, early in the Community Foundation’s inception, a group of dedicated volunteers including John Ireland Sr., John Bush, Trevor Hutchinson, Joli Scheidler-Benns, Alexis Benns, Paul Langham, Scott Robertson and Amy Terrill, approached the Foundation to support their ambitious tree planting vision starting with planting at the Boys and Girls Club in Lindsay, Ontario. This successful start resulted in the planting of 70 trees and 30 blueberry bushes. This extended to the Binny and Smith Community Garden with a planting of 20 fruit trees and 40 blueberry bushes.

By 2022 - 2023, John Ireland Sr. shifted the Canopy Project’s focus on to the urban canopy needs of area schools and in 2023, working closely with the TLDSB and the Catholic school board, John Ireland Sr together with the help of John Bush, visited area schools, designed tree planting site plans per school, worked with the school boards to secure locates for planting and then in Fall 2023, with the help of teachers and students, planted 117 trees across area schools. This endeavor has also received generous backing from Kawartha Conservation. 

To sustain and expand upon these initiatives, John Ireland Sr. and the Community Foundation met with Sandi and Richard Gauder, who spearheaded extensive tree planting activities with PlantAForest. Plant Kawartha will broaden efforts allowing John Ireland Sr to refocus on pollinator garden plantings.

We are grateful for the strong donor support received for our Canopy Project initiatives and hope to continue to garner support for Plant Kawartha.