Keep Statesboro-Bulloch Beautiful, the City of Statesboro and the Tree Board were awarded up to $7,359 in Georgia ReLeaf grant funds from the Georgia Tree Council to purchase a variety of trees and tree materials.

According to a release from Keep Statesboro-Bulloch Beautiful, the funds were used to plant a total of 50 trees including Fringe, Savannah Holly, Eastern Redbud, Vitex, Chinese Pistache and Yaupon Holly along various public properties in Statesboro.

The areas include the Willie McTell Trail, the medians of College Blvd and Park Ave, the W Main St. parking lot, Renaissance Park and Simmons Park.

Amanda Clements, coordinator for KSBB, said the objectives of the Georgia ReLeaf Program are to improve the environmental, economic, and social health of Georgia communities, help sustain health and diversity in Georgia’s community forests, improve planning efforts of city administrators, municipal tree departments, and tree boards, contribute to tree equity in under-resourced communities and increase environmental and health benefits to combat the effects of climate change.

In an email, Clements said city staff was able to replace trees that had been removed due to disease or natural disasters, ultimately increasing the city’s tree canopy percentage and improving beautification standards.

Keep Statesboro-Bulloch Beautiful is an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation. More information may be found at keepstatesborobullochbeautiful.org.