Seeds for Change

Written by: Kathrine Levensailor, Inside the Outdoors

In November 2008, the Freeway Complex Fire burned 30,305 acres of land between Corona and Brea, California. More than 350 structures were destroyed, including buildings at Brea Canyon High School. As a result of the fire, both Brea Canyon and Brea Olinda High School campuses lost all their landscaping. It was the goal of the school administrators and 50 members of the Friends for Change Club at Brea Olinda High School to restore the schools’ landscaping with California native plants. But there was only one problem: where would they get the 4,000 plants needed to complete the restoration project?

Less than a year later, more than 4,000 native California plant seeds were being planted by VoluntEARS at Disney’s D23 Expo. During this Disney Fan Convention, thousands of VoluntEARS worked with Inside the Outdoors, a program administered by the Orange County Department of Education, to get the planting done. Disney donated more than $2,000 to provide the seeds and planting materials. The intent was to use some of these plants for a teaching garden for Inside the Outdoors while the remaining plants would go to local schools to introduce students to native plants and their role in the local ecosystem.

Shortly after the event, The Friends for Change Club at Brea Olinda High School contacted Inside the Outdoors as a result of a newspaper article about the D23 Expo and VoluntEAR project. The club members wanted to develop a student-led service-learning project to restore a portion of the Brea Olinda and Brea Canyon High School campuses. The timing could not have been better! The students’ idea for the restoration project matched the mission of Inside the Outdoors. The project would create awareness and knowledge about the environment and give the community a chance to put the knowledge into action. Working with Inside the Outdoors, the connections were made once again with Disney.

Once Disney heard about the club’s goal they jumped on board as a partner to support and facilitate this large scale restoration project. On March 28, 2010, more than 100 volunteers, including Disney VoluntEARS, came together to work on this project. The event was put on with the support of the Brea Olinda High School Friends for Change Club, Inside the Outdoors, Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green, Disney VoluntEARS, Village Nurseries, Tree of Life Nursery, and California Native Plant Society.

Even Nicole Anderson from Disney’s “JONAS” came out to get these plants in the ground!

Approximately 2,000 plants that had started out as seedlings at the D23 event were planted on the once burnt hillside. Looking at the hillside, there is no doubt these plants are where they were meant to be. Inside the Outdoors is currently working with the Brea Olinda High School Friends for Change Club’s presidents: Lauren Kelley, Andrew Daedler, and Jacqueline Cortes to finish planting the remaining 2,000 plants. The work of these students is inspirational and sets a high standard for future service-learning projects.