The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation (FTPF) is an award-winning international nonprofit charity dedicated to planting fruitful trees and plants to alleviate world hunger, combat global warming, strengthen communities, and improve the surrounding air, soil, and water.
FTPF programs strategically donate orchards where the harvest will best serve communities for generations, at places such as community gardens, public schools, city/state parks, low-income neighborhoods, Native American reservations, international hunger relief sites, and animal sanctuaries.
What FTPF Provides
Our orchard donations are available for recipients who pledge to care for their trees and utilize them for a charitable purpose. If selected for an orchard donation, FTPF provides high-quality fruit trees and shrubs, equipment, on-site orchard design expertise and oversight, horticultural workshops, and aftercare training and manuals. We subsidize deer fencing and drip irrigation as needed, and incorporate these installations into the event day. FTPF also helps coordinate all aspects of the planting, and offers an inspirational, educational experience for volunteers interested in learning more about trees. Free arboricultural workshops are available throughout the day of the planting and, for schools, a fun, age-appropriate curriculum, with our educators, emphasizing the importance of trees for the environment and fruit in the diet is available.
Our goal is to provide enthusiastic orchardists with the physical materials and training tools needed to grow vibrant fruit trees to improve the surrounding environment and provide a local source of healthy nutrition.
Recipient Requirements:
1. Recipients must be nonprofits, NGOs, public schools, or government entities serving a charitable purpose. Most of our programs are implemented in the U.S., however, we do consider international projects as well.
2. Recipients must be fully committed to caring for the trees in perpetuity with a clear goal to use the orchard to further their charitable mission.
3. Recipients must have a horticulturally appropriate planting site, capable of hosting a grove of fruit trees at approximately 12-15 ft. intervals. The minimum number of trees varies from program to program, however, a ballpark minimum is around 15-20 trees. Our application helps evaluate all the appropriate site factors.
4. Recipients must either a) own the planting site, b) have a long-term lease in place, or c) work with a nonprofit or government entity that owns the planting site with a long-term usage agreement in place.
5. The orchard must have a reliable source of year-round irrigation nearby.
6. Recipients must help coordinate the attendance of local volunteers on planting day. Orchard stewardship is maximized when local volunteers are involved.
7. For interested schools, only public schools are eligible at the present time. For more information about Fruit Tree 101, please click here.
Timing
Unless otherwise stated below for a particular program, there is no deadline for applications. FTPF accepts applications on a rolling basis. Please understand that FTPF’s current schedule is at near capacity, and due to the large number of applications we receive, we are unable to respond to every request, unless there is an excellent match for one of our programs.
We highly encourage anyone interested in an FTPF orchard to apply at their earliest convenience. We often have unexpected opportunities or cancellations that allow us to incorporate additional plantings into our calendar year, and we always turn to submitted applications first. Often times, with patience, we are able to make worthy projects happen if we have the information in our system. There is no need to resubmit an application, as the information is stored in our applicant database in perpetuity, or at least until we plant together!
Current deadlines: None. Applications accepted on a rolling basis and remain on file until there is an opportunity to award an orchard.
How To Apply
Download FTPF’s application form at www.ftpf.org/application.doc and return via email only to [email protected].
