Green ‘S’ Welfare Force Planting Day—22 May 2016

Today our friends from the Green ‘S’ Welfare Force were back for another planting day.  We had planned for a weekend of planting but the weather on Saturday featured gale force winds and heavy rain so we only planted on Sunday.

The weather was better but we still had to contend with the occasional downpour and lots of wind.

But that didn’t stop the biggest group of Green ‘S’ Force volunteers we’ve ever had from coming out and making a major contribution to our planting efforts.  It was great seeing so many new people and also welcoming back old friends.  Joining us were Amandeep, Ankit, Arshdeep, Bharpoor, Gursewak, Harman G., Karman, Jagseer, Karmjit, Major, Mandeep, Meenu, Meenu S., Napinder, Navjot, Navneet, Neelam, Nidhi, Nisha, Nitash, Pardeep, Parminder, Pooja, Priyanka, Raj, Rakesh, Ramandeep, Ranjit, Saman, Sandeep, Simar, Simranjeet, Suhas, Sukhjeet, Surjit, Veerpal & Vinod

We were also very happy to have our friends Adrian and Ajay join us for the day.

This year we are planting in one of the most remote parts of the property—over a km from the cottage.  Because of the size of the group, we had to take the team, plants and equipment up in small groups.  As a result we unfortunately never managed to get the entire group together for a total group photo.

As people arrived, they had a quick morning tea, and signed in.

Each group got a safety briefing before heading up and then went to work.

We had already delivered a large number of trees up at the site but the big team kept us busy delivering more plants throughout the day.

And they didn’t let the occasional showers bother them!

Once everyone got up to the site, the planting went very fast.

While most of the team planted, Surjit and Navjot assisted Mahrukh with getting morning tea and lunch organised.

In the field we broke into teams, some people laid out plants, others dug and the rest planted.

Even the newest and youngest member got really early training in tree planting!

At about midday the team broke for a tea break.  We brought up tea and snacks and everyone enjoyed a relaxing break in the field.

After tea, the group worked for a couple more hours and completed the planting for the day.  They then took some time to explore the area and had a leisurely walk back to the cottage.

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who gave up yet another Sunday and came out to help us today. Despite the rain and wind you were all very enthusiastic and planted a huge number of trees and we really appreciate your hard work and efforts.

You have made an amazing contribution to CUE Haven and our environment, and you should be very proud of the positive impact you have had on New Zealand and the planet.

Many thanks again and we look forward to continuing to work with you and seeing you all again soon.

THANK YOU!!  THANK YOU!