This year, WDIY's annual Fall Membership will not only provide essential operational support for the station, it will also help plant trees in the Lehigh Valley. WDIY is working with the nonprofit TreePennsylvania to plant large, native trees to aid in the revitalization effort at Meadow Park in the Borough of Coopersburg (Lehigh County).
Donations from listeners during WDIY's Fall Membership Drive will help with the transportation, planting, and future care of the trees, while TreePennsylvania is arranging for the purchasing of the trees. As Coopersburg Council Vice President Diederik Terlaak Poot, and says, the planting of these trees will “have an immediate impact on the community and for generations to come.”
Those who contribute to the Drive at the Friends of Don Miles Level ($120 or higher) will have the opportunity to have their name or a loved one's name placed on a memorial sign at the site of the planting this fall. Of course, any donation amount is appreciated and will help fund WDIY's operation as well as the planting of trees.
"[The planting of these trees will] have an immediate impact on the community and for generations to come."Dick Terlaak Poot, Coopersburg Council Vice President
The last time WDIY was able to use a Membership Drive to plant trees was in 2011. "Our last tree planting effort focused on areas like Allentown and Easton," said Shamus McGroggan, WDIY Membership and Development Director. "When this opportunity to help with a park revitalization in Coopersburg came up, we recognized it as the perfect opportunity to help a place that wasn't included in the station's previous projects. We have many listeners and members in the Coopersburg, Upper Saucon Township, Center Valley area, so this is an effort that can be enjoyed by those individuals and their families long into the future."
Coopersburg's Meadow Park has been undergoing a revitalization effort that began earlier this year. Native herbaceous plants and grasses were installed as a riparian buffer earlier this month through a mini-grant award, but according to Rebecca Hayden of the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, the effort only included small container stock. WDIY's tree planting would use large native trees like red maples and white oaks that will add to the canopy of the park.
"We are grateful to TreePennsylvania and their Bare Root Tree Program for their collaboration on this project," McGroggan said. "We expect the planting to take place in November — which is actually the ideal time for a planting like this. Of course, WDIY members will be invited to the planting ceremony and can lend a hand with actually getting the trees in the ground. We can't wait!"