2014 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Simran Panesar was a finalist in the 2014 Central Alberta CFW contest. A grade 8 student from A. Blair McPherson School in Edmonton, Simran had a local and global perspective to her project.
Simran’s concern about her watershed was soil erosion. Erosion is a local issue on the banks North Saskatchewan River, and a global issue as well. According to scientist Tim Radford, 10 million hectares of land are eroded every year.
There were two parts to Simran’s project; Part 1 was to plant tree saplings by the North Saskatchewan River and Part 2 was to fundraise money for the Canopy Project.
Part 1- Tree Planting
Working with the Edmonton based organization “Roots for Trees”, three grade 6 classes from A Blair McPherson School went to Gold Bar park to plant trees. With instructions and equipment supplied, they were able to plant 463 trees. Simran personally visited each class before the trip to teach them about why they would be planting trees and how it will help the watershed.
Part 2- Canopy Project
The second part of Simran’s project was to raise money for the international Canopy Project. Over the past 3 years they have planted 1.5 million trees in 18 countries. For every dollar they receive they plant one tree in a place that needs them. To raise money Simran hosted a $2 showing of The Lorax movie. She also sold $2 tickets for a draw for some cool prizes donated by a local business Thurber Engineering LTD. Altogether, she raised $413 (or 413 trees) for the project!