LELAND — The Alliance for Cape Fear Trees and the Enterprise Mobility Foundation are partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to distribute 1,000 native trees in Leland on Saturday for free.
In the Leland Cultural Arts Center from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on March 14, volunteers and organizers will give out trees native to southeastern North Carolina. Residents of Brunswick County and surrounding areas are welcome to attend.
“Planting trees in highly developed cities like Leland is incredibly important for both the resilience of the environment and the health of urban residents,” Dan Lambe, Arbor Day Foundation’s chief executive, said in the release.
Saturday’s giveaway will be the Alliance for Cape Fear Trees’ third in Brunswick County. The nonprofit advocacy organization, based in Wilmington, is dedicated to the preservation, protection and planting of trees around the Lower Cape Fear region. Its mission is committed to urban forestry, with a focus on climate resilience, environmental justice, and public education.
“Trees are living infrastructure,” Isabelle Shepherd, executive director of the alliance for Cape Fear Trees, said in a press release. “They keep our communities cooler, cleaner, and healthier—and we’re excited to support Leland residents in planting trees that will serve their neighborhoods for generations to come.”
Each household may receive two trees, from varied choices: American elm, American holly, American persimmon, blackgum, flowering dogwood, river birch , southern live oak, and white oak. Information about the trees can be found here, and the Alliance for Cape Fear Trees recommends anyone interested first read about their species of choice, to find more about its care needs and the best place to plant it.
There will also be trained “Tree Stewards” and certified arborists at Saturday’s event, available to answer questions and help people as needed.
The March 14 event will be the alliance’s final tree giveaway of the 2025-2026 “planting calendar,” which refers to the best time to plant seeds, transplant seedlings, and harvest crops based on local frost dates and local climate. The nonprofit distributed more than 5,300 native trees across New Hanover, Brunswick, and Columbus counties during the 2025-2026 planting calendar.
The event is also a part of Enterprise Mobility’s Urban Tree Initiative and builds on its “50 Million Tree Pledge” partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. The partnership began in 2006 and aims to plant 50 million trees in forests with the greatest need by 2056.
In 2018, Enterprise Mobility — a company that provides transportation like car rentals, vanpooling, luxury rentals, fleet management and more — expanded its pledge and began planting efforts in urban communities that “have historically lacked adequate environmental investment or have been impacted by natural disasters and are deficient in access to greenspaces.”
“Taking care of communities where our customers and team members live and work is at the core of what we do,” Carolyn Kindle, Enterprise Mobility Foundation President, said in the release. “We are excited to continue to play an active role in helping plant trees and bring environmental benefits to communities who lack sufficient access to greenspace or may have been impacted by natural disasters.”
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