Students spearhead new service event to plant thousands of trees

This weekend, March 30-31, Virginia Tech students are spearheading a new green event.

Students and members of the community are making plans to plant more than 6,000 trees on campus and in other parts of Blacksburg.

It’s all part of the The Big Plant, created by Ibrahim Mohamed, a Virginia Tech graduate and campaign coordinator for the Environment Coalition at Virginia Tech, a student organization that promotes sustainability. It is host of The Big Plant.

He said he was inspired to launch The Big Plant last year during The Big Event, an annual service day for Virginia Tech students. This year’s Big Event is April 6.

“Coming here, being around the nice scenery and coupling it with how much I learned about climate change over the last two years, it just really made me want to take action,” Mohamed said.

The planting begins at noon on Saturday. The first planting location will be at a section of Stroubles Creek, near Foxridge Apartments. Volunteers will plant 4,000 native tree cuttings.

The second planting location will be at Paris Mountain Farm in Ellett Valley. Here, the group will plant 2,000 native seedlings.

On Saturday at 10:30 a.m., the event will begin on the Drillfield, where John Eustis, executive director of the New River Land Trust, will speak to volunteers.

Other hosts of The Big Plant include the Stroubles Creek Coalition and Students for Sustainable Practice. The event is sponsored by the New River Land Trust and some local businesses.

Once planting on Saturday is complete, volunteers are invited to camp at the New River Junction. On Sunday, they will plant 200 small oaks in the New River Junction area.

“Our hope is to bring awareness to climate change and take action against it,” said Mohamed. “All community members and students coming together to plant thousands of trees on their own is a great action and gesture. I hope this will inspire others to plant trees as well.”

Volunteers can pre-register for the event or sign up at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 30, on the Drillfield. Food and refreshments will be served.

Written by Haley Cummings