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TREE PLANTING PROGRAM RECEIVES ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION AWARD

date 04/01/99

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Nebraska City, Neb.--The Living Memorial Tree Planting Program of the Batesville Casket Company, Batesville, Indiana, will receive a 1999 Project Award from The National Arbor Day Foundation at a special awards ceremony to be held here on Saturday, May 1. Project Awards recognize outstanding projects that are collaborative activities involving tree planting and environmental stewardship.

The Living Memorial Tree Planting Program plants a tree in a national forest for every casket or cremation urn purchased. Since the program's creation 22 years ago, more than seven million commemorative trees have been planted, making this the largest private reforestation project in the United States.

Representatives of the Batesville Casket Company will attend the 27th annual National Arbor Day Foundation Awards banquet to receive the award. The ceremony is part of the Arbor Day weekend celebration held in Nebraska City from April 30-May 2.

Others being honored this year include the other 1999 Project Award winners: Chesapeake Bay Youth Conservation Corps, Chesapeake, Virginia, for teaching at-risk youth the value of trees; the New York City Parks and Recreation Department, for programs like the Street Tree Census and Green Streets of New York; the Rotary Greenway Project, Indianapolis, Indiana, for beautifying 50 blocks of the city by planting 12,000 plants, including 700 trees; and the Omaha World-Herald's Branching Out Program, Omaha, Nebraska, for its leadership in replacing trees destroyed by snow and ice storms.

The National Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit education organization dedicated to tree planting and environmental stewardship.