South Bend Venue Parks and Arts event gives away more than 150 trees

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – While Arbor Day happened more than two weeks ago, South Bend Venue Parks and Arts is striving to make sure that the tree-planting mindset that comes along with the holiday continues year-round. 

On Saturday, SBVPA gave away 158 non-invasive trees at a free Arbor Day giveaway event at Howard Park.

While the giveaway was scheduled to run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., the turnout was so great that the trees ran out before 10:30 a.m.

SBVPA Director of Development, Amy Roush, emphasized how important it is to plant trees year-round, as shade can improve home conditions in the summer, and even potentially add to a home's property value. 

Saturday's event marked the first time that SBVPA was able to host multiple Arbor Day events in the same season. 

SBVPA was also awarded the Growth Award by Tree City USA for the first time in 2022, showcasing that the community showed significant improvement in its efforts toward increasing canopy coverage.

Multiple local leaders made appearances in support of the event, including Indiana State Representative Jake Teshka and South Bend Mayor James Mueller.

South Bend residents who couldn’t make it out to Saturday’s event can still apply to go green and have a tree planted by SBVPA free of charge. More information about how to apply for this first-come-first-serve opportunity can be found here.