More than 50 communities across Alabama will receive cash grants to purchase trees for parks, schoolyards and other public spaces under a partnership between the Alabama Power Foundation and the Alabama Urban Forestry Association.

This year, the Urban and Community Tree Assistance Program is providing nearly $50,000 in grants to 51 communities throughout the state. Over the past three years, more than $150,000 in grants have been distributed to more than 130 cities, counties, schools and community groups.

The grant program, the only one of its kind in Alabama, is designed to foster the planting of trees in urban and community settings. Many communities pair their tree grants with federal dollars that can be used for projects such as tree planting master plans or tree inventories. Those federal dollars, however, cannot be used to purchase trees.

"The Tree Assistance Program and the federal money work hand-in-hand," said Jerri LaHaie, executive director of the urban forestry association. "The government grants pay for the planning; the Tree Assistance Program pays for the trees."

"The Tree Assistance Program fits beautifully with one of our goals: to help protect and preserve Alabama's unique environment," said William B. Johnson, president of the Alabama Power Foundation. "Trees are so important, not only in our wild places, but in our more urbanized communities."

For more than a decade, the Alabama Power Foundation has provided support and funding for thousands of worthy projects throughout the state. The Foundation's mission: to improve the quality of life of Alabamians and strengthen the communities in which they live.

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SOURCE: Alabama Power Company