Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the Taylor family have a long tradition of sharing the fruits of their success and supporting the communities where it does business.
The Enterprise Rent-A-Car 50 Million Tree Pledge
In 2006, The Arbor Day Foundation (NADF) approached Enterprise Rent-A-Car with an idea. In honor of the company’s 50th Anniversary, NADF challenged Enterprise to make a long-term commitment to celebrate that milestone and make a pledge to the future.
All along, to celebrate this anniversary, Enterprise had planned to say thank you for its first 50 years by making a significant gift for the next 50.
The question was this: What kind of gift would be consistent with Enterprise as a company – and also have a meaningful connection to its business, its employees, and the communities it serves?
The need for reforestation is great. And the positive impact trees make on the world is immense – from cleaning the air and maintaining a clean water supply to helping combat soil erosion and providing habitats for birds and other animals.
A single tree can make such a difference. So Enterprise decided to take the idea to the next level. And the Enterprise Rent-A-Car 50 Million Tree Pledge was born.
Here’s how it works:
- Each year, The Arbor Day Foundation will identify a number of tree planting projects throughout the U.S. – and work with similar agencies in Europe and Canada to find planting projects in those countries.
- Enterprise will fund as many of these planting projects as possible each year – planting 1 million trees a year… 50 million trees total over the next 50 years.
- The Arbor Day Foundation will grow the seedlings and provide them to the U.S. Forest Service, which will plant the trees where they are needed most.
This collaboration with The Arbor Day Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service brings together the best of three worlds:
- The public agency charged with protecting and preserving the National Forests ...
- Private funds from a committed corporate citizen ...
- And a world-class nonprofit organization with the vision to bring a program like this together.
A million trees a year is not a total solution, but it’s a solid step in the right direction.
