Ten for One: How and Where We Plant Trees
One misty morning, all we had was an open field, a fence, and a few little trees. As city folk, my family and I knew nothing about planting those fruit trees we’d bought at the local nursery. So like most people who don’t know anything about what they’re up against, we went ahead and started planting anyway. Tightening our gloves and sticking our shovels, we broke the earth, tilled the soil, and inserted the trees. We didn’t know if it would work. If those baby trees would produce anything, but we had to try, to see if we could perhaps do something worthwhile, grow something good.
For four long years, we watched the trees harness the rays of summer, battle the winds of winter, and revive upon the eve of spring. Unshaken, they stood still throughout the seasons. Their green leaves folded with the wind, cloaking pale bark that rooted deep below the hopeful orchard. Time passed, days and nights faded, and then one morning, we decided to take a walk and visit the trees. As we approached, you could see it, a tiny singularity, barely visible yet easy to distinguish, one of our family’s fruit trees had produced a piece of fruit.
In the beginning, despite what we faced, we moved forward and planted. And in the end, we gathered something greater than that tiny piece of fruit. Ten for One is not just a mission. It’s a movement that has been cultivated, planted, nurtured and is now flourishing with growth. To reap its reward is to collect hope. Hope for impoverished people. Hope for the future of our world.
How We Provide Hope
Text messaging. For every 8,333 messages IRIO sends, we save one tree. And when we save one tree, we plant TEN. That’s why it’s called Ten for One. It’s our promise to plant TEN trees for every ONE tree we save. And as of two weeks ago, with the millions and millions of messages our clients have sent, we’ve now planted 50,000 trees in just two years.
Our giving partner, Trees for the Future, makes the process easy. They’ve built an incredibly effective way of eliminating hunger and extreme poverty through their Forest Garden Approach. A primitive means of gardening and enriching the soil, the forest garden forms a natural barrier of trees around a plotted point of land which in turn provides an abundant amount of fruits and vegetables in areas where growing is more than difficult. All sorts of trees contribute to this age-old method, and for the 20,000+ families seeking aid, it’s had quite the impact. To help these families through Ten for One, all you have to do is:
- Send Text Messages with IRIO
It’s one step. That’s the beauty of Ten for One. Just one step to plant a tree. Just one.
Where We Provide Hope
Our giving partner is growing in many areas of the world, but their primary focus is in Western and Eastern Africa. To be more specific:
- Senegal
- Cameroon
- Uganda
- Kenya
- Tanzania
For the families in these countries and across the world, every day is a battle. Every day we fight to end their suffering. According to the United Nations, 21,000 people die every day (yes, every day) from hunger-related causes. Ten for One is hope to one day eliminate that number. And if enough people, whether it’s with Trees for the Future or some other giving organization, sacrifice a little, we may just save a lot.
Join us in the fight against hunger and poverty, and discover more about how texting changes things at tenforone.com
Hunger and World Poverty Sources: United Nations World Food Program (WFP), Oxfam, UNICEF.