Albany Tree Planting & Urban Forestry Funding from TD Bank

Savvy community forestry programs are always on the lookout for funding opportunities. One avenue is through two urban forestry related programs of TD Bank: TD Tree Days, and TD Green Streets. Through TD Tree Days, City of Albany Forester Tom Pfeiffer and College of St. Rose Instructor and Science Education Problem-Based Learning Coordinator Mary Cosgrove received a grant from TD Bank to plant 30 trees in Albany around Hoffman Park. TD Bank volunteers and students and staff from St. Rose, guided by Pfeiffer and his crew from the City of Albany, planted the trees on October 27, 2015.

How do TD Tree Days grants get awarded? TD Bank Katie Thiemann AVP and Community Relations Program Manager says, “Each year we work with local market contacts throughout our whole retail footprint to decide which areas we would like to host a TD Tree Days project in. We then work with the Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) who reaches out to their members within that market to submit a proposal.”

Specifically, Alliance for Community Trees, which is now a part of ADF, handles the TD Tree Days connections. For this and many other reasons, it’s a good thing to be a member of Alliance for Community Trees. If they should contact you about a TD Tree Days opportunity, you would then do a simple online proposal, as was the case for Pfeiffer and Cosgrove.

The second TD Bank grant program is TD Green Streets. Although the submission period is closed right now, TD Green Streets is a means for eligible municipalities to apply for a grant up to $20,000 to increase their urban canopy. More information can be found here. A new application will launch in Oct/Nov 2016, so keep your eyes peeled for that.