Root ball raises $227,000 for Trees for Houston
A fleet of signage paved the driveway leading to a private venue near the Houston Polo Club for the Root Ball. Each marker noted various Trees for Houston statistics and achievements, highlighting all that the nonprofit has accomplished over the past 37 years.
For example, did you know the organization has planted more than 600,000 trees across Southeast Texas since its inception in 1983? Or that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, its leadership expanded its model and distributed more than 15,000 trees this planting season? Last week’s gala attendees do.
Roughly 100 supporters donned garden-party attire for a hybrid “Our Place or Yours”-themed event presented by Phillips 66. Another 100 guests tuned in virtually. Ultimately, the collective group — led by board members turned event advisers Rudeina Baasiri, Olive Hughes and Bobbi Ingram — raised $227,000 toward Trees For Houston’s mission to plant, protect and promote trees throughout Greater Houston.
After rounds of the evening’s signature cocktail, a gin-based twist on the Mint Julep dubbed the “Bayou Breeze,” in-person diners took their seats under the live oaks and a canopy of garden lights. Each orchid centerpiece doubled as a donation opportunity, selling for $100 a pop.
Executive director Barry Ward kicked off the program by sharing that this was his (lucky?) 13th Root Ball, as the previous year’s fundraiser was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic — and with that, the four-course feast began. The venue-catered dinner began with a prosciutto-wrapped fig with blackberry amuse bouche, followed by a butter lettuce salad and beef tenderloin entree with spring-onionwhipped potatoes and broccolini. An amaretto chocolate mousse with Oreo crumble, butterscotch and candied orange zest ended the meal on a sweet note.
Meanwhile, virtual participants enjoyed a Swift + Co.-prepared charcuterie board, Bibb lettuce salad, stuffed quail, grilled artichokes and petite dessert assortment delivery at home, sponsored by Marathon Oil.
All had access to a poignant, six-minute video highlighting Trees for Houston’s impact on local communities. Trees are provided for roughly 55 ZIP codes at each distribution event, including H-E-B grocery stores and Joe V’s Smart Shops. Additionally, 44,561 trees have been planted at 810 area schools.
A recent partnership with leaders in Fifth Ward yielded a particularly fruitful result.
“Our district covers a large variety from Crosby all the way to Fifth Ward, so our district has very wealthy and very poor,” explained Abur Abner Lyons, District Office 142 liaison, onscreen. An idea to have trees planted along Mesa proved an undertaking three years in the making. “We got a call from Barry Ward … I had never talked to him; I never met him. He just called me out of the blue and asked me, ‘Are you still interested in that project?’ ”
That was a miracle, Lyons said, choking back tears. “No one believed it was going to happen. Even until the day that first tree was planted, they still didn’t believe.”