Sponsor a Tree to Honor Lives Lost to COVID-19

Spearheaded by Green Newton’s Environmental Youth Leadership Program, the Capture Carbon Commemorate COVID-19 Tree Project (4C Tree Project) hopes to demonstrate the resilience of our City through difficult times and its commitment to a healthy ecosystem. 

Sponsor a 4C Tree

Why trees? Trees symbolize life, connection, strength and ancestry.

We hope the planting of young trees will help our community look ahead to renewed vitality and balance in our lives while remembering the lives we lost and the challenges we endured. We hope that each sighting of a 4C tree will remind us of how precious life is and how important it is for us to care for the environment that sustains it.

Why trees? Trees are an amazing green infrastructure. They:

  • Capture carbon dioxide from the air, store carbon in the trunk, leaves and soil, and release oxygen into the atmosphere
  • Offer cooling shade, block cold winter winds, attract birds and wildlife
  • Contribute to a clean water supply by preventing soil erosion and chemical runoff
  • Provide grace and beauty to our homes and community

This is where you come in. You can contribute to this tree memorial project by making a gift now.

Sponsor a 4C Tree

We hope to fundraise enough funds to begin the first round of tree plantings in spring 2021. Through the generous support of Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, we will work with the Newton Department of Forestry and community volunteers to plant the trees.

In 1970, Newton’s public spaces had 40,000 thriving trees, but that number has dwindled to around 20,000 in recent years. With your contribution, we can plant trees, offset carbon emissions, and provide a living reminder of those we lost to COVID-19.


Questions? Check out our FAQs here, or email Barbara Brousal-Glaser at [email protected]. If you are interested in joining the tree care team, please email Elizabeth Sockwell at [email protected].