Holiday Spirit

Volunteers plant trees in a backyard of a south Palo Alto home on Dec. 4, 2021 as part of Canopy's planting event. Photo by Gennady Sheyner.

Posted December 24, 2021

Palo Alto's tree nonprofit branches out beyond city borders
Canopy plants seeds of justice in the community

by Gennady Sheyner / Palo Alto Weekly

It was a perfect day for planting, with overcast morning sky giving way to afternoon sun, as 10-year-old Reyansh Malla massaged a knot in the tangled roots of a water gum tree that his group was about to plant in the backyard of a south Palo Alto home.

His father, Ratnakar Malla, was a few feet away, digging into the soil with a pickaxe while Reyansh recalled family road trips, including a recent one to Mammoth Lakes, where he collected saplings to bring back to plant in a nursery.

Trees are his passion. So when he saw an opportunity to volunteer with Canopy , the Palo Alto-based nonprofit that is devoted to increasing the local tree population, he jumped at the chance and brought his father along.

"Our family is a tree-loving family," Ratnakar Malla, 43, explained.

The cool weather meant that the trees wouldn't experience too much of a shock as they were removed from their pots and installed in their new homes, said Mel Sutton, Canopy's community forestry field technician. It also created comfortable conditions for the dozens of volunteers who came out on a Saturday morning in early December to toil, laugh, learn, make friends and help Canopy advance an important mission: narrow the gap between the tree haves and the have-nots.

In Palo Alto, this meant planting trees south of Oregon Expressway, in neighborhoods where the size and population of trees are stunted relative to the city's northern parts. By the time the event ended, that deficit was reduced by 18 trees.

Gabrielle Trudeau, Canopy's community forestry coordinator, heads the organization's South Palo Alto Tree Initiative, which is focused on addressing the coverage gap, which she said has grown from about 10% to about 20% over the past decade.

"We're trying to make canopy coverage equal for everyone," said Trudeau, as she shuttled between four planting sites and the group's temporary base at Palo Verde Elementary School.

On a broader scale, Canopy's push toward equality means increasing the canopy in cities and neighborhoods where the tree deficit is particularly severe: East Palo Alto, Belle Haven and North Fair Oaks.

Though the nonprofit was born in Palo Alto, Canopy branched out to East Palo Alto in 2007, when it received a state grant of about $130,000 to plant trees next to U.S. Highway 101. Since then, the organization has planted about 3,000 trees in East Palo Alto, including nearly a quarter of the street trees in the city's right-of-way.

It has paid particularly close attention to schools in the Ravenswood City School District, both in East Palo Alto and in the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park. To date, it has planted 1,300 trees near schools, according to Catherine Martineau, executive director of Canopy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the organization to pivot from its historically large plantings — which at times attracted more than 250 participants — to smaller events like the one in early December, during which small groups are sent to different sites. Its planting efforts, however, have not abated. Between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021, the organization helped plant 378 new trees: 172 in Palo Alto, 101 in East Palo Alto, 38 in Belle Haven, 36 in North Fair Oaks and 31 in Mountain View, Martineau said.

Despite these accomplishments, the tree gap remains significant. Because Palo Alto's trees tend to be older, they tend to be larger. When considering disparities between and within the cities they serve, the organization focuses on canopy cover rate — a measure that considers both the number of trees and their size. Palo Alto's canopy cover rate is about 38%, Martineau said. In East Palo Alto, it's 13%.

"You see the difference in how green some neighborhoods are and how gray others are and it's striking," Martineau said. "We can do all of the analysis to actually measure the tree canopy cover, but you can also just look at it and see it."

Canopy, which last year received a $5,000 grant through the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund , and its small army of volunteers are committed to doing something about it. The organization is educating residents about trees, both through planting events and through classes that it offers to K-6 grade students in the Ravenswood City School District. It also administers the Teen Urban Forester program, which teaches East Palo Alto high school students how to plant and care for trees and pays them to do so.

Adrian Maciel, 16, who is currently enrolled in the Teen Urban Forester program, estimates that he has participated in planting more than 150 trees since he began working with Canopy. This includes plantings in Martin Luther King Junior Park and along University Avenue in his hometown of East Palo Alto.

But on the recent December morning, he was helping put the finishing touches on a newly planted tree in the backyard of a Louis Road home in Palo Alto. His team included three fellow Teen Urban Foresters, all of whom were distinguished by their yellow vests: Angel Patino, 16, Bethzy Garcia, 16, and Nicia Ingram, 17.

All four East Palo Alto Alto residents gave the same reason for joining Canopy: a desire to make their hometown greener.

"I wanted to help my community," said Ingram, a senior at East Palo Alto Academy.

For Canopy, the Teen Urban Forester program serves two critical functions. It educates youths to appreciate and care for trees. And it helps to ensure that someone will be around to maintain the trees that it plants. Once the organization plants a tree, it tends to it for about three years. After that, the job falls to the city or the property owner.

Indira Selvakumaraswamy, volunteer coordinator at Canopy, said three years is roughly how long it takes for a tree to "establish itself."

"It's almost like rearing a little child," Selvakumaraswamy said. "You may not look at it and think it's a baby, but it is very similar."

Canopy's teen urban foresters have been helping the organization plant and maintain trees since 2007. To date, the nonprofit has provided 252 paid internships benefitting more than 100 students from East Palo Alto, according to Martineau.

In some cases, the experience is life changing. Cynthia Perez joined the program in 2016 to explore her interest in biology, learn more about trees and meet other people. She recalled one planting event that took place near her home.

"I ended up meeting neighbors that I haven't met my entire life in living in this part of my neighborhood," said Perez, 22. "It introduced me to a lot of people and made me feel more connected to my neighborhood."

After completing the Teen Urban Forester program, Perez attended Scripps College, where she majored in biology. By the time she graduated, her family had moved from East Palo Alto to Nevada. Wishing to remain in the Bay Area, Perez applied for a job with Canopy. She currently lives in Santa Clara and works as an administrative associate at the nonprofit.

Since she began her Canopy journey, Perez has become more attuned to the social inequities that trees — or a lack thereof — expose.

"I remember seeing these aerial views of Palo Alto versus East Palo Alto and it was just dramatic to see the stark difference, seeing that this is the air we breathe because we don't have as much of a canopy coverage and access to trees," Perez said.

Canopy, which has also been working in East Palo Alto for nearly 15 years, has made environmental justice an even higher priority in recent years, she said. This means shifting from the metric that the organization has traditionally used to measure its success — the number of trees it has planted in any given community — to deeper discussions around the questions of: How well in tune are we with the community's needs? What do the community members say they want?

"We want to be more understanding of what community members think is best for them," Perez said.

At the same time, Canopy continues to make a big impact in its own hometown. After Palo Alto sawed down 50 mature holly oaks on California Avenue in September 2009 — an event often referred to as the "California Avenue Massacre" — the organization lobbied the city to adopt an Urban Forest Master Plan . It then worked with the city to obtain grant funding for the master plan and to put the plan together, an effort that Palo Alto finally completed in 2017.

This year, the nonprofit was one of several that successfully lobbied the City Council to update the city's tree protection ordinance for the first time in 20 years. In October, the council launched the process to expand the city's roster of protected species, which is currently limited to the coast redwood, the coast live oak and the valley oak.

As Canopy looks to the future, it hopes to further expand its advocacy, Martineau said. This, she said, is the area in which the nonprofit can have the most leverage and help the largest number of trees and residents.

"We want to grow that," Martineau said.

Make a donation
2023 Recipient Agency
Able Works$10,000

Acterra$15,000

Ada's Cafe$25,000

Adolescent Counseling Services$7,500

Art in Action$10,000

Art of Yoga Project$5,000

Aspire East Palo Alto
Charter School
$5,000

Bay Area Friendship Circle$5,000

Beyond Barriers
Athletic Foundation
$5,000

Big Brothers Big Sisters
of the Bay Area
$5,000

Blossom Birth and Family$5,000

Canopy$5,000

CASA of San Mateo County$5,000

Christmas Bureau of Palo Alto$7,500

Community Legal Services
in East Palo Alto
$10,000

Counseling and Support
Services for Youth (CASSY)
$15,000

Downtown Streets Team$15,000

DreamCatchers$15,000

East Palo Alto Academy
Foundation
$10,000

East Palo Alto Kids Foundation$15,000

East Palo Alto Razorhawks
Rugby Football Club
$5,000

Eastside College
Preparatory School
$7,500

Ecumenical Hunger
Program
$10,000

Environmental Volunteers $7,500

EPACENTER$25,000

EPATT (East Palo Alto
Tennis and Tutoring)
$20,000

Family Connections$7,500

Fit Kids Foundation$5,000

Foundation for a
College Education
$15,000

FRESH APPROACH$5,000

Fresh Lifelines for Youth$5,000

Friends for Youth$5,000

Friends of the Palo Alto
Junior Museum & Zoo
$10,000

Heart and Home Collaborative$10,000

Hidden Villa$10,000

Hope Horizon East Palo Alto$7,500

Jasper Ridge Farm$5,000

Kara$15,000

Lauren's House 4 Positive
Change
$5,000

Learning Home Volunteers$10,000

Mannakin Theater & Dance$5,000

Music in the Schools Foundation$7,500

My New Red Shoes$5,000

Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto$10,000

Palo Alto Art Center Foundation$10,000

Palo Alto Community
Child Care (PACCC)
$20,000

Palo Alto Players$10,000

Peninsula Bridge$10,000

Peninsula College Fund$10,000

Peninsula Healthcare Connection $10,000

Peninsula Volunteers$15,000

Pursuit of Excellence
Scholarship Foundation
$20,000

Ravenswood Classroom Partners$20,000

Ravenswood Education
Foundation
$10,000

Rebuilding Together
Peninsula
$7,500

REEL2e$5,000

Rich May Foundation$5,000

Riekes Center$5,000

Rise Together Education$15,000

Rosalie Rendu Center$5,000

Sager Family Farm$5,000

Science is Elementary$5,000

Silicon Valley Urban
Debate League
$7,500

StreetCode Academy$10,000

The Circuit EPA$5,000

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley$5,000

UNAFF (United Nations Association
Film Festival)
$10,000

Vista Center for the Blind
and Visually Impaired
$10,000

WeHOPE$15,000

WomenSV$7,500

Youth Community Service $25,000

Child Care Grants

AbilityPath$10,000

All Five$10,000

Children's Center of the
Stanford Community
$5,000

Children's Preschool Center$5,000

Covenant Children's Center$10,000

Grace Lutheran Preschool$10,000

Palo Alto Community
Child Care (PACCC)
$10,000

Palo Alto Friends Nursery School$10,000

Parents Nursery School$10,000

The Learning Center$10,000


As of September 28th, 386 donors have contributed $744,423 to the Holiday Fund.
* indicates amount withheld at donor's request

58 Anonymous137,070
Lani Freeman & Stephen Monismith*
Veronica Tincher*
Janice & Walter Sedriks100
Rob Colley & Kate Godfrey100
Wachtel Family1,000
Dr. & Mrs. Frederic J. Kahn1,000
Kim Harvey1,000
Richard M. Glendening100
James Lobdell & Colleen Anderson500
Kay Remsen*
Delle Maxwell1,000
Kenneth Bencala & Sally O'Neil100
Nancy & Joe Huber*
Ann & Don Rothblatt500
Retired*
Eric & Katie Seedman*
Mitchell Rosen50
Colleen Chihak and Joe Urbassik*
Debbie Mytels100
Elizabeth Shepard*
Roger V. Smith500
Annette Isaacson200
Julie & Dan Lythcott-Haims250
Anne & Don Vermeil*
Deborah Roth200
Page & Ferrell Sanders150
Tess & Eric Byler150
Robert & Barbara Simpson*
Denise and Jeff Simons*
Keith and Linda Clarke*
Peter Rosenthal1,000
Roderick C. McCalley100
Glenda & Gordon Hughes2,500
Nancy & Steve Levy250
Lynn and Andrew Newman*
Anthony & Susan Wood25,000
Boyce & Peggy Nute*
Maureen O'Connor150
Gwen Barry*
Martha Shirk1,200
Hoda Epstein*
Jennifer DiBrienza & Jesse Dorogusker1,000
Jack & Martha McLaughlin*
Elizabeth Lillard-Bernal75
Diane and Brandy Sikic*
Marilyn, Dale, Rick & Mei Simbeck*
Duane Bay & Barbara Noparstak150
Nancy & Jim Baer*
Werner Graf*
Alicia Newman100
Dorsey & Katherine Bass300
Jonathan MacQuitty & Laurie Hunter1,000
Bill Reller*
Edie Kirkwood1,000
Harry E & Susan B Hartzell100
Micri & Bob Cardelli*
George & Betsy Young*
Diana Diamond1,000
Ann Burrell & Charles Smith*
Brigid Barton 2,000
Charlie Williams*
Janis Ulevich*
Diane Doolittle*
Theradep Technologies500
Lee Zulman*
Jack and Susan Thomas*
Korol Family250
Bruce & Mary Beth Train500
Julie and Jon Jerome*
Lawrence R. Yang & Jennifer W. Kuan10,000
Harriet Benson10,000
Andrea B. Smith100
Arthur Keller250
Mackenzie Family Fund25,000
Leif and Sharon Erickson500
Susan D Osofsky Fund200
The Havern Family5,000
Weil Family Fund1,000
Gwen Luce and Family*
Barry L. Goldblatt150
Margaret A. Krebs578
Diane and Joe Rolfe*
Diane Finkelstein250
Linda & Steve Boxer*
David & Betsy Fryberger400
Bruce & Jane Gee250
Judith Appleby300
Chris & Anna Saccheri5,000
Donald Barr150
Charles & Barbara Stevens*
Edward Kanazawa300
Bill Johnson & Terri Lobdell2,500
Karen A. Latchford*
Dawes Family Fund500
Gavin & Tricia Christensen*
Kingsley Jack250
Braff Family Fund 500
Jean MacDonell200
The Fruchterman Family Fund250
The UMOC Charitable Fund 250,000
Nancy Wong and Robert Lipshutz200
Ellmann Family100
Vic and Norma Hesterman200
Gil and Gail Woolley200
J Platt & S Murphy*
Richard and Karen Olson500
Richard Zuanich150
Carli Scott*
Seema Ramanathan & Arun Ramchandran 250
Gwen and Wally Whittier200
Sue Elgee and Steve Eglash500
Charles Katz & Gina Signorello250
Patti Yanklowitz and Mark Krasnow100
The Dong Family200
Jody Maxmin*
Ted & Ginny Chu*
Ellen and Ron Krasnow*
Thomas Rindfleisch*
Ed & Linda Selden721
Cynthia Costell100
Romola Georgia*
Elgin & Elizabeth Lee500
Georgie Gleim1,000
Scottie Zimmerman100
Alice Schaffer Smith100
Rob and Lucinda Lenicheck250
Marcia & Michael Katz200
Christine and Bob Buss*
Alice Erber and Robert Steinberg200
Pat Burt500
Scott and Jan Kilner500
Jean Doble*
Dorothy Saxe100
Kieschnick family1,000
Bonnie Packer500
Steve & Diane Ciesinski500
Elizabeth Lee and Remington Fong*
Gerald C. & Joyce M. Barker*
Barbara & Skip Shapiro*
Dena Hill500
Barbara Klein*
Dorothy Deringer200
Art and Peggy Stauffer500
George & Betsy Bechtel200
Jonathan & Judith Rattner100
John Tang & Jean Hsia*
Joan Willingham150
Ed & Linda DeMeo500
Ellen M. Lillington200
Stuart & Carol Hansen*
Penny & Greg Gallo500
Tom & Nancy Fiene200
Tom & Patricia Sanders*
Elizabeth Salzer & Richard Baumgartner*
Fran Codispoti250
Bruce Campbell*
Amado & Deborah Padilla250
Margo Sensenbrenner*
Paul & Jane Millman250
Mahlon & Carol Hubenthal*
Deborah A. Williams & Jean Luc Laminette1,000
Jerry & Bobbie Wagger*
Merele McClure250
Kate & Marvin Feinstein1,000
Judy Kramer*
Richard & Pat Douglas50
Margaret Forsyth and Glenn Rennels*
David Backer500
Constance Crawford250
Kingston Duffie & Elizabeth Schwerer500
Jill and Brian Bicknell300
Rosalind Haber200
Freddy & Jan Gabus250
Susan & Doug Woodman150
Donald Price*
Judy Ousterhout*
John Keller100
Hyrkin Family500
Donna Silverberg100
Leo & Marlys Keoshian250
Charlotte Johansen200
Robert McMillen100
Roger & Joan Warnke300
Virginia and David Pollard125
Jim & Valerie Stinger100
Eileen & Rick Brooks1,000
Carolyn Williams & Mike Keeler*
Marian Sanders*
Katherine Bryant100
Ralph & Jackie Wheeler 300
Barbara Riper*
Sally & Craig Nordlund500
Carolyn Caddes*
Kroymann Family250
Marian Adams100
Roy & Carol Blitzer*
Elaine Hahn1,500
Joanne Koltnow400
Joan Norton*
Christina Kenrick1,000
Nina & Norman Kulgein200
Karen Winkleman Furman & Bruce Furman100
Richard Johnsson5,000
Becky & Ted Baer250
Xiaofan Lin100
Bonnie and Bryan Street*
Denise Savoie and Darrell Duffie*
Stephanie Klein & Larry Baer*
Larry Klein500
Marvin & Kate Feinstein500
Carol & Hal Louchheim400
Leonard & Mary Jo Levy150
Katherine L. Hunt400
Ajit Bhave & Manisha Kulshrestha500
Bill and Susan Beall *
Eric Keller and Janice Bohman*
Linda& Jerry Elkind*
Tony & Kathleen Hughes1,000
Leanne and Peter Giles100
Barbara Allen100
Dukovic and Frommer Charitable Fund100
John B. Florine Galen*
Diane Moore*
The Ely Family500
Scott & Sandra Pearson500
Trish Bubenik*
Eric & Linda Jensen250
Vic Befera 100
Mindy & David Sitzer*
David Kalkbrenner*
Rosalie Shepherd100
Kay Sabin*
George & Dianna Richardson250
Dr. Teresa L. Roberts1,000
In Memory Of

Margarot T. Hanks200
Florence K. Ho2,500
Carol Berkowitz*
Bill Land100
Marilyn Hansen*
Betty Meltzer50
Bertha Kalson*
Boyd Paulson Jr.3,000
Alan & Tracy *
Dr. David Zlotnick*
Paul Seaver*
Nate Rosenberg100
Kathy Morris1,500
Jeffrey David Tuerk*
Ruth & Chet Johnson*
Chet Brown*
Andre Jones *
Mary Floyd50
Mr. & Mrs. Ray Tinney200
Nellie Perna Bartello100
Mason & Ryan*
Mary & Emmet Lorey*
Ian Halliday250
David Sager100
Ruth Satterthwaite*
Marie and Don Snow200
Er-Ying and Y.C. Yen250
Beverly Aarts*
Ted Linden200
Philip M. Stein*
Jack Sutorius750
Walter Dean*
Rabbi Sidney and Marjorie Akselrad *
Gary Zweig500
Karl Knapp500
Bob Donald*
Aaron O’Neill*
Jim and Dottie Mellberg*
Zorro*
Shiela Mandoli*
J Norman Rossen*
Shiela Mandoli 100
Edward and Elizabeth Buurma*
Elizabeth and Edward Buurma*
Bob Markevitch100
Ray Bacchetti300
Bob Donald350
Steven T. Ross100
Leonard Ware*
Michele Wilson*
Lily & Philip Gottheiner150
Gerald Berner300
August King*
Bob Simoni500
Phil Zschokke200
Franklin Elieh*
Mary Alice Carpenter Pearson50
Robert Spinrad100
David W. Mitchell*
Samuel Benjamin Kurland300
Robert O. Jack150
Kaye H. Kelley & Richard C. Van Dusen*
Franklin*
Suman Patni*
Patricia A. Popp*
Duncan Matteson1,000
Maureen Martin*
Pam Grady250
In Honor Of

Dr Ron Radzilowski*
Marie Wolbach50
Leo & Sylvia Breidenbach and Thomas & Louise Phinney1,000
Darla Tupper3,922
Marilyn Sutorius750
Joe Simitian*
Lee Zulman96
Polly Caddes*
Gabby Perez & Logan Marsh250
Liz Kniss250
Georgia Lee*
Barbara Zimmer and Kevin Mayer150
Businesses & Organizations

Delores Eberhart DDS*
Angelo Family Foundation 5,000
soccermoviemom.com150
Palo Alto Business Park*
Arrillaga Foundation10,000
Leannah Hunt Realtor250
Peery Foundation10,000
Hearts & Minds Activity Center75
Palo Alto Weekly Moonlight Run67,893
Alta Mesa Cemetery & Funeral Home2,500
Hewlett Foundation25,000
Packard Foundation25,000
Communications & Power Industries LLC*
McCalmont Engineering2,500

Past Holiday Fund Grant Recipients

2018-2019 | 2017-2018 | 2016-2017 | 2015-2016 | 2014-2015 | 2013-2014 | 2012-2013 | 2011-2012 | 2010-2011 | 2009-2010 | 2008-2009 | 2007-2008 | 2006-2007 | 2005-2006 | 2004-2005 | 2003-2004 | 2002-2003 | 2001-2002 | 2000-2001 | 1999-2000