Microsoft Rolls Up Its Sleeves with Other Valley Companies and Community Groups to Plant 200 Trees in East Palo Alto

Microsoft, along with seven other top Valley companies and community groups, planted more than 200 trees at Greek Oaks and Cesar Chavez Academies in East Palo Alto last weekend. The trees will provide shade, as well as cleaner air, for the more than 800 elementary and middle school students in the area.

Led by Canopy, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting healthy trees for a healthy lifestyle, nearly two dozen Microsoft employees from the Silicon Valley campus contributed to this initiative. National Semiconductor, NVIDIA, SanDisk, Yahoo, Robert Half International, Palo Alto Rotary, Ravenswood City School District, City of East Palo Alto, and REI supported this initiative along with Microsoft, bringing more than 200 volunteers to the school to plant 11 different drought-tolerant species. The school grounds now are shaded by forest green oak, cork oak, Catalina cherry, Bosque elm, London plane, silver leaf linden and many other types of forestry. Canopy reports that trees benefit the community’s health by promoting clean air and water, protecting students from harmful UV rays and providing the positive effects associated with the proximity of natural environments.

Microsoft staff members are accustomed to helping community-oriented programs take root, regularly sharing their time with nonprofit groups to help improve the environmental, educational and economical aspects throughout the Valley.