The Georgia Tree Council (GTC), in cooperation with the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) and funded by the U.S. Forest Service, aims to restore and enhance the environmental, economic, and social health benefits that trees offer to communities, especially in storm-damaged and underserved areas, through community reforestation and green infrastructure projects.
The Making the Shade program is designed to provide funding support up to $5,000 for the development of healthier, shaded playground areas at elementary school campuses. This initiative targets PTAs, neighborhood associations, and community groups, offering assistance from community foresters in species selection, planting location, and maintenance education. The program aims to counteract the removal of trees from schoolyards by highlighting the substantial benefits of strategically planted trees. These benefits include reducing playground equipment surface temperatures, minimizing UV radiation to lower skin cancer risks, cooling effects that decrease ground-level ozone, enhancing air quality to benefit children with asthma, and overall temperature reduction. Beyond physical health improvements, shaded areas from trees are shown to encourage outdoor activity, potentially improving mental health and academic performance. The grant facilitates engagement and ownership among students and parents by involving them in the planting process. Funding is allocated on a competitive basis for projects not already supported by existing funds, stressing the importance of sustaining these initiatives independently.