Volunteer Spotlight – February 2018

Name: Martin Grieve

Volunteer since: May 2017

Roles: Tree Specialist, Tree Planter and Tree Aftercare Assistant

Autobiography: My name is Martin and I have a passion for the environment. As a child I spent my summers at our cottage in the woods near Sudbury. Every year I would come home with white pine and red oak saplings and transplant them in our yard. In high school I took part in an exchange and got a chance to go to a small town in Eastern Québec. I enjoyed the mountains and forest so much I ended up staying for five years. As I grew I always kept a passion for the environment, starting an Environmental Committee at my workplace and pushing to implement composting in the lunchroom. I began taking my children along on tree plantings as soon as they were old enough to walk. Now I am proud to see my passion for the environment now growing in them. They are starting to consider the environment in their daily lives, choosing products based on how much packaging they come with. With their help in 2015 we produced only six bags of garbage and were able to compost or recycle the rest. In 2016 we moved to London and have since been able to attend many more tree plantings. We like to go back to plantings that we did years ago, with both Reforest London and with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority, and see how they have grown. I look forward to many more years of walks in the growing forest with my wife. I am glad we can be a part of it.

Why Martin volunteers with ReForest London: I have always enjoyed volunteering in my community. When we moved to London I had to step down form the board of a charity in our old town for something more local. I did not hesitate for a minute before going to Reforest London. I had volunteered on tree plantings several times before and feel that the organizations values align well with mine. I have always felt it important to give back to the community and tree planting is a great way to give something that will be here for generations to come.