SIMI VALLEY : Students Give $500 Toward Tree Purchases

As part of a belated Earth Day celebration, a group of Simi Valley elementary students Thursday donated $500 to buy trees for a vacant lot next to their school.

Members of the ecology club at Abraham Lincoln School raised the money in February by organizing a recycling drive that involved the entire school. Contests were held between grade levels to determine which classes could bring the most cans. Then each day after school, club members would lug the bottles and cans to a recycling center, said Sandy Toring, a kindergarten teacher and the club’s adviser.

The eight members of the club, called Student Environmentalists Plant, Love and Nurture Trees, presented their profits Thursday to officials of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. The district plans to use the money to buy trees for the field, which is slated to become a park.

“We wanted to be part of it since we’re also going to use it,” Toring said. “It’s really important for the children to realize they’re part of this community and can make a difference.”

In addition to the money given to park officials, the club donated $500 to purchase birch, flowering plum and pear trees for the Abraham Lincoln campus. Toring said this was the fourth year that the ecology club has coordinated the can drive.