Tree planting
Put native trees in the ground.
Find land that needs trees, get native seedlings into it, and bring people out to help plant them. This is what the Northeast Ohio chapter has done since the start, so the process for it is well worn.
Chapters
Start a chapter where you live.
Roots of Tomorrow started with students in Northeast Ohio who wanted the woods near them to look better than they found them. The same thing works anywhere there's someone willing to start it.
What a chapter is
A local group doing the same work, in its own town.
A chapter runs its own events under the Roots of Tomorrow name. You find the people and the place. We handle the parts that are hard to work out from scratch — the paperwork, the sourcing, and the process we already learned the slow way.
In practice, that's a group of high schoolers running at least four events a year. There's no minimum size to start — one person who's serious is enough, and recruiting comes after. The local lead does the ground work: finding members, finding land or arranging the education side, and running the event day itself. You won't be doing that alone, though. Every chapter gets a dedicated contact who has done this before and stays with you from the first conversation onward.
Two kinds of chapter
Plant, teach, or do both.
Run one or run both — tell us which when you apply.
Education
Teach people why it matters.
Run workshops and talks — in classrooms, at libraries, anywhere people will listen — about the forests nearby, what's happening to them, and what actually helps. No land required, which makes it a good fit if you're somewhere dense.
The arrangement
What each side is on the hook for.
What we help with
- A dedicated contact who walks you through the whole thing, from the first conversation to the events themselves.
- Funding to help cover event supplies and the other costs of running a day.
- Coverage under our 501(c)(3). Day to day, that means your chapter can take tax-deductible donations, and can grant and receive volunteer hours.
What you bring
- At least four events a year.
- Anyone in high school can join, and there's no minimum group size to get started — you can apply on your own.
- As the local lead: recruiting members, finding land or arranging the education side, booking a venue, and running the event day.
How it works
Three steps, and none of them are hard.
01
Apply
Fill out the application. It asks where you are, which kind of chapter you want to run, and why you want to do it.
02
We talk it through
You'll hear back within 48 hours. It's a real conversation, not a review process.
03
You start
We train you and walk you through the process, and then you run your first event.
Apply
Tell us where you'd start.
The application is short, and it's the same one for both kinds of chapter. If you're not sure whether your area makes sense for this, send it anyway and we'll talk.
Closer to home
Already in Northeast Ohio?
No chapter needed — come plant with the one that's already here.