Niagara Parks Foundation Chair Debbie Whitehouse accepts donation to support tree planting from 10-year-old student Reaghan Bucknall
“The Nobody Project” encourages students to perform an act of kindness for their community
Niagara Parks Foundation raises funds to support Niagara Parks’ annual tree planting goals of planting at least 5,000 trees across its properties
Niagara Falls, ON – Inspired by a class assignment, Reaghan Bucknall, a 10-year-old student from Twenty Valley Public School in Vineland, has chosen to raise funds to support tree planting at Niagara Parks through the Niagara Parks Foundation. Reaghan recently presented Niagara Parks Foundation Chair Debbie Whitehouse with her $125.60 donation that will fund the planting of 12 native trees within Niagara Parks.
“The Nobody Project” encourages students to perform an act of kindness for their community. After researching what programs were available, Reaghan learned about the Niagara Parks Foundation, a not-for-profit charity dedicated to supporting Niagara Parks in its environmental and cultural stewardship initiatives.
“At school, we are learning a lot about pollution, oceans and the environment, and I want to do something for the environment. I decided planting trees is a big thing. I hope that I can make a big change,” Reaghan said. “We learned a lot about Niagara Parks and the Foundation.”
With the support of her family, she crafted and sold loom bracelets, raising funds for the Foundation. The Nobody Project encourages kindness, with each student adding an item to the Nobody Doll as they perform acts of goodwill and eventually Nobody becomes Somebody. After Reaghan presented Whitehouse with her donation for the Foundation, she added a bracelet and Niagara Parks keychain to the Nobody Doll.
Upon receiving the donation from the young environmentalist, Niagara Parks Foundation Chair Whitehouse emphasized the importance of tree planting as one of the Foundation’s priority projects: “Absolutely every tree makes a difference. Every single one.”
“We need the future generations to appreciate the nature around us as much as those of us who have enjoyed it our entire lifetimes. Their efforts, along with donations, make preservation possible,” Whitehouse said.
The Niagara Parks Foundation is a not-for-profit charity dedicated to supporting Niagara Parks in its environmental and cultural stewardship initiatives to preserve and protect the 56 kilometres of the Niagara River corridor. Niagara Parks’ Urban Forestry Management Strategy aims to plant 5,000 trees annually, fostering forest health and biodiversity. Since 2012, over 150,000 trees have thrived in Niagara Parks thanks to this initiative and with support from the Foundation, Niagara Parks surpassed its goal in 2023 by planting 7,500 trees. To learn more about the Niagara Parks Foundation, visit niagaraparksfoundation.com.
About the Niagara Parks Foundation
The Niagara Parks Foundation is a board-governed, registered charity that supports Niagara Parks in its stewardship work through funding projects, research and public education. As a self-supported agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Niagara Parks relies exclusively on its own revenue streams to operate and maintain its extraordinary 56-kilometre ribbon of parkland. The Niagara Parks Foundation offers the public and corporations unique opportunities to actively contribute and support one of the world's most beloved public spaces.
About Niagara Parks
Since its establishment in 1885, Niagara Parks has remained a self-financed agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, entrusted to preserve and protect the land surrounding Niagara Falls and the Niagara River. Today, Niagara Parks boasts gardens, a horticulture school, recreation, golf courses, restaurants, heritage and historic sites, gift shops and, of course, Niagara Falls. In short, natural landscapes, history, family fun, hiking, culinary delights, attractions and adventure.
For more information, please visit niagaraparks.com or contact: