Disney donation to restore California forests
Oct 13, 2008

The non-profit TreePeople organization is receiving a $1.5 million grant from the Walt Disney Company. The money will be used to plant 60,000 trees as part of TreePeople's Wildfire Restoration program.

Disney CEO Bob Iger stated "It's a great way for Disney to give back to the community that we have called home for the last 85 years.Iger commented that the gift "is right in line with Disney's own environmental policies, which seek to maintain sustainable strategies for minimizing our impact and encouraging and activating others to be environmentally responsible"

Previously this year, Disney's VoluntEARS and Tree People used a Disney grant totaling $250,000 to plant greenery at Los Angeles schools and parks as part of the Million Trees LA program.

Disney was honored for this latest grant at TreePeople's recent "An Evening under the Harvest Moon" fundraiser. Andy Lipkis, founder and president of Tree People stated "Because of the foresight and generosity of Disney, we are going to be able to send thousands of people, including students, up to the mountains to restore the burned areas. Just as these forests have been sending rivers of clean water to the city for all these years, the city can now be sending a river of human hands and caring back to them."