Third Time’s A Charm

Rainy weather or a global pandemic did not stop our team from hosting our annual Neighbourhood Tree Depot. This year we held the event at our new head office location on Commissioners Road West in London, Ontario. In accordance with COVID-19 precautions, trees had to be ordered online beforehand and picked up during specified time slots. The local community must have been just as excited as we were since all trees sold out online after less than a day.

Convertus had a surplus of volunteers from head office including Matt Straatman, Cheri Fisher, Ryan Lauzon and family, Ann-Marie Cooper, Jamie and Lexie Jongsma and Michael Leopold. The pandemic made it a bit more challenging than usual with volunteers being required to assist with traffic management, carrying trees to parking spots and making phone calls for missed appointments.

Ryan Lauzon, Director of Business Development, brought his kids to help as volunteers for the event. “It’s important for me to teach my kids early on to give back, especially when it comes to initiatives that focus on bettering the environment and local community. [The Tree Depots] taught them about protecting the environment, being kind to one another and having fun in the process – they had a blast!”

Convertus joined The Million Tree Challenge in 2018, which inspires Londoners to plant one million trees to improve the environmental and human health of the planet. This year marked the third year in a row that Convertus has sponsored Neighbourhood Tree depots. “It was especially important for us this year with the coronavirus affecting so many, to uphold our purpose in caring for the environment by investing in sustainable initiatives.” said Michael Leopold, CEO. “ReForest London’s Neighbourhood Tree Depots have become one of my favorite events. They hold numerous benefits to the community including building unity, cleaning the air and water, providing habitation for wildlife and fighting climate change.”

The Million Tree Challenge has almost reached the halfway point at 452,413. Convertus has participated by sponsoring Tree Depots, volunteering to plant trees and registering our trees.