A total of 195 trees will be donated in Marshalltown this week.

Riverview Park and the Marshalltown Little League Park received 65 trees from the Marshalltown High School Bobcat Alumni Fund on Wednesday.

The remaining 130 trees will be donated to JBS employees this Friday and available for pick-up on Saturday. JBS Marshalltown, in partnership with MHS Bobcat Alumni Fund, are providing 130 trees to JBS employees who lost trees on their private property during the 2018 tornado and 2020 derecho. Bi-lingual planting instructions will be provided with each tree. JBS Plant Manager Todd Carl will receive a “Foliage Hall of Fame” plaque in recognition of the company’s platinum level donation.

“This was a town that used to enjoy a completely tree covered main street all the way, from end to end,” MHS Bobcat Alumni Fund Vice President and Treasure Lyle Jensen said.

After the 2018 tornado, the MHS class of 1969, as part of their 50th alumni class reunion legacy project, created the non-profit organization with the goal of raising donations to replace hundreds of trees lost in the 2018 tornado. After the losses Marshalltown sustained in the 2020 derecho, the MHS Bobcat Alumni Fund increased fundraising efforts.

Since its inception, the organization has been able to raise more than $130,000 in donations and donate 435 trees in Marshalltown. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed tree planting efforts in 2020, Jensen said, but are now back on track to meet their goal of providing 750 trees.

“It’s a community legacy project by planting trees, these hundreds of trees will have a 70- to 90- year life to them,” Jensen said. “We think it’s one of the most important community legacy projects we could have worked on and we sincerely thank all the alumni classes and businesses that have donated.”

In the fall, the organization is scheduled to donate trees and shrubs to complete the Marshall County Courthouse town square grounds.

——

Contact Trevor Babcock at 641-753-6611 or tbabcock@timesrepublican.com.