Support Your School and Win Free Trees for Your Campus In the Root for Your Home Team Contest at arbordaynow.org

Nebraska City, Neb. (Oct. 20, 2010) – College students can show their school spirit with just the click of a mouse and at the same time help add beauty to their school's campus. Tree Campus USA invites students, alums, donors and supporters to vote for their favorite Tree Campus USA school and win free trees for their campus in the Root for Your Home Team contest, which is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota.

To vote, simply go to www.arbordaynow.org/root, sign up to become a Tree Planter and select a Tree Campus USA college or university to receive your vote. The school with the most votes will receive $2,500 in free trees, which will be planted on campus in the spring. Voting is open to everyone but only those schools that earned Tree Campus USA recognition in 2009 are eligible to win trees. Last year, the Arbor Day Foundation recognized 74 colleges and universities as Tree Campus USA communities.

For a complete list of Tree Campus USA colleges and universities, go to http://www.arborday.org/programs/treeCampusUSA/campuses.cfm.

Anyone can sign up to be a Tree Planter and vote for their favorite Tree Campus USA school from now until Nov. 5. As a Tree Planter, individuals will be the first to learn about tree-planting opportunities in their area, receive monthly messages with ways to make a positive impact on the environment and will be eligible to participate in other contests at www.arbordaynow.org.

To become a Tree Campus USA college or university, a school must meet five core standards of tree care and community engagement. Those requirements are: establishing a campus tree advisory committee; providing evidence of a campus tree-care plan; having dedicated annual expenditures on the campus tree plan; observing Arbor Day; and offering service-learning projects aimed at engaging the student body.

Remember, only the school with the most registered Tree Planters will receive free trees from the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota, so sign up and vote today.

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About the Arbor Day Foundation: The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation organization of more than one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. More information on the Foundation and its programs can be found at arborday.org.