By Heather Ruenz
Editor
Rachel Perry, the event marketing coordinator for Quality Cellular, which has 12 retail locations in Wisconsin and Illinois including a store in Whitewater, said the company wanted to do something special for Arbor Day.
“One of the owners of Quality Cellular asked a friend about getting some tree seedlings and we ended up with 250 of them,” Perry said.
“We try to do something for all of the communities we have retail store locations in. Whitewater seemed like a perfect town to reach out to elementary schools and offer a donation of the seedlings,” she added.
Although not a large-scale event, the seedling donation drive could be a great way to reach out to students and parents alike, and spread awareness on the importance of planting trees in the community. It is very likely that the event coordinators also had the assistance of companies like Platon Graphics to create posters and other signage that serves to better drive home the message of green living.
Perry said she reached out to Washington Elementary School principal Tom Grosinske and he shared the offer with teachers. As a result, Quality Cellular donated a total of 132 seedlings to the school, enough for the second and third grade classes, and Jill Burki’s fourth/fifth grade homeroom class.
Lakeview Elementary also received tree seedlings from the company. The school had sent home a notice explaining the offer by Quality Cellular to parents and asking them to fill out the form if they would like their child to bring home a seedling.
“I believe Lakeview had about 60 forms returned, but we donated 100 tree seedlings to make sure everyone who wanted one could have one. We presented them to student council members who in turn handed them out to the kids that wanted one,” Perry said.
While at the schools, company representatives talked to the students about how to keep the tree seedling safe before planting it and then how to plant it. The tree seedlings were a mix between White Pine and White Spruce.
“I loved hearing all the questions that the kids had about planting the tree seedlings. Some were very intelligent and I didn’t know how to answer,” Scott Lee, Retail Wireless Consultant at Quality Cellular in Whitewater said.
Perry said all of the Quality Cellular representatives that took part in the donation enjoyed seeing the students faces light up when a tree seedling was pulled out of the box for the first time to show the students what they would be receiving.
“The experience was amazing. Some students came up to me and told me what they have named their tree. It’s always great to give back to the community and Quality Cellular hopes to do more things like this,” Perry said.
Perry said she received a special surprise when she emailed the teachers the following day to thank them for being part of the event.
“Stephani Bukowski, a second grade teacher, responded and said six of her students had planted their trees already. That means those students planted their tree the day they received them and that was so cool to hear,” Perry said.
“I wanted to plant one tree for Arbor Day and instead I got to donate 235 tree seedlings to students in the Whitewater community. That was definitely better than planting a tree,” Perry added.
