Lifestyle

Volunteers Restoring Bastrop State Park Forests One Seedling at a Time

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Volunteers from Philadelphia Insurance Companies arrived at Bastrop State Park last week to begin planting seedlings that will help to restore Bastrop State Park’s forests. A 2011 wildfire in the Bastrop State Park destroyed close to 1,700 homes, killed two people, and inflicted an estimated $325 million of insured property damage. Fifty Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY) employees supported the company’s efforts to plant 80,000 trees for the third consecutive year through a two-day project in Bastrop, where they planted 3,500 trees.

Partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation

volunteers planting

Photo: Facebook/PHLYINS

According to a press release, PHLY’s 80K tree planting mission began in 2015 in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation and was renewed in 2016 and 2017. The goal to fund the planting of 80,000 trees was reached each year with the help of PHLY’s independent agents, brokers, and policyholders who signed up for paperless statements. The company has used the cost savings from each year’s new paperless enrollees to fund plantings the following year. PHLY (pronounced phil-EE) employees returned to Bastrop, TX this year, where the Arbor Day Foundation recommended planting an additional 40,000 trees. The Arbor Day Foundation will lead projects to plant an additional 40,000 trees in other U.S. forests this year to complete the 80,000 trees PHLY funded in 2017.

20,000 Trees Planted in Bastrop in Past Two Years

Bastrop State Park

Photo: Facebook/PHLYINS

“We’re pleased with the continued support of our business partners, customers, and employees which has helped us reach our goal to fund the planting of 240,000 trees over the past three years,” shared Bob O’Leary, president and chief executive officer of Philadelphia Insurance Companies in a press release. “With 20,000 trees planted personally by our employees in Bastrop over the past two years, we decided to renew our commitment to the area’s recovery and allow our employees to see the progress of our previous efforts.”