Huntingdon College continued its commitment to community trees with their 3rd annual Arbor Day celebration in February 2016.

The events, held over two days, kicked off February 25 with Huntingdon College, President J. Cameron West and Tree Campus USA coordinator, Gabrielle Ehinger planting a ceremonial tree near the main entrance to the campus. A tree giveaway followed, with approximately 250 seedlings generously supplied by the Alabama Forestry Commission.  

Friday, February 26, students, faculty, and staff gathered at the north side of the Fairview Environmental Park to implement this year’s service learning project by helping plant and mulch 40 trees along and near Holt and Malvern Streets. The project was funded by the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus USA Service Award.  

In November, the Arbor Day Foundation selected Huntingdon College, in a partnership with the City of Montgomery, as one of three national small college finalists in their Tree Campus USA Service Learning Contest, with the winner determined by online voting.

The contest solicited projects from colleges across the country that sought to create a service learning project to engage students in a tree planting/maintenance project in a low-to-moderate income (LMI) area of their local communities.

The Huntingdon community voters came together online, winning Huntingdon $10,000 to plant trees in the West Fairview neighborhood. This area is part of a municipal initiative effort to revitalize and improve streetscapes for walkability, safety and connectivity. The new trees will also help to reduce storm water runoff and calm area traffic.

The project is in the vicinity of the Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail.

The students will help maintain the trees with organized service days as needed throughout the growing season.