100 trees, 100 schools, 100 years

Damon Beard touches down to launch the 100 Trees, 100 Schools, 100 Years initiative. Photo credit: Julian Carelsen

Damon Beard addresses learners at Glenwood High ahead of planting trees. Photo credit: Julian Carelsen

Glenwood High deputy principal Robert Webber, prefect Werner Coetzee, acting principal Andri Barnes and deputy head boy Lindokuhle Luthuli receive the tree from Damon Beard. Photo credit: Julian Carelsen

Damon flew into his alma mater Glenwood High School for the first handover this morning, before flying to Fynnland Senior Primary on the Bluff and then travelling on to more schools throughout the day. With the help of his team all 100 trees will be delivered to primary and high schools across the province, from Merebank to Richmond.

This initiative forms part of Damon’s outreach feature, The Big Favour, which has helped citizens and communities at large in KZN for over 17 years. He says this is by far his biggest big favour yet. Damon says, “If you look at the trees at the Durban Botanic Gardens, some of those trees are over 100 years, so my thinking was that if we can plant 100 trees that will be as big as that in 100 years that would be amazing. With World Environment Day we tend to let it go without doing anything, so this was a way of making a stand and looking 100 years into the future for 100 years of sustainability.”

The ECR presenter came up with this idea of an ‘amped up Big Favour’ to coincide with World Environment Day and he is delighted that Mondi came on board to donate the trees, the Durban Botanic Gardens has been looking after the trees, Key Pinetown has helped get them to schools throughout KZN and Reaction Unit SA flew Damon to some of the schools.

Tune in to The Big Favour every Thursday morning at 6.40am.