<h2>2015 Challenge</h2>
<h4>What is “Trees for You &amp; Me”?</h4>
Trees for You and Me is a friendly competition among AAZK chapters. It was launched by former PBI Field Ambassadors as a
fundraising challenge to plant trees
<h4 class="hr"><img class="alignleft" title="trees_u_me" src="http://aecetia.net/gws/aazk/wp-content/uploads/trees_u_me.jpg" alt="trees_u_me" width="180" />How does the tree planting work?</h4>
Local AAZK chapters compete with each other to raise funds. Each chapter then has three options on how to apply the money they
raise:
• They can use the funds in their own communities, by planting on the grounds of their own zoo or aquarium or by supporting a local tree-planting project. (If selected, this option should be coordinated with the Acres with the Atmosphere program.)
• They can donate the funds to SaveNature.Org, an international tree-planting organization that works to protect tropical rainforests. With this option, the chapter should talk about the importance of rainforests in combating climate change as part of the fundraising process.
• They can donate the funds to Polar Bears International in support of Acres for the Atmosphere projects.
Whichever option is chosen, the funds must be spent on planting trees or on a related greening effort. The effort must also include an educational event that invites others to take part in additional conservation behaviors that reduce CO2. Planting trees in urban areas has distinct benefits, but the most important is that it brings the community together in a green activity.  Community engagement—citizens working collaboratively, through inspired action and learning, to create and realize bold visions for their common future—is a critical step in creating a movement to stop our dependence on fossil fuels and stop global warming.
<h4 class="hr">How will the challenge work?</h4>
<ul>
	<li>AAZK chapters should register between October 1, 2014 and January 1, 2015 by sending the following information to AAC@polarbearsinternational.org: the coordinator’s name, the AAZK chapter name, the affiliated zoo or aquarium, and the phone number and email address of the coordinator.</li>
	<li>PBI will send communications about the Trees for You &amp; Me effort to each AAZK chapter’s coordinator throughout the challenge.</li>
	<li>Chapters will report their results to PBI; periodic e-mails from PBI will announce the standings.</li>
	<li>Chapters may follow the progress and results on the PBI and AAZK websites.</li>
	<li>Following the fundraising effort, chapters will report on how they used the funds. This includes sharing the effort with others through PBI’s SOS Community Page
(http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/saveourseaice) and by reporting to AAZK through the chapter re-chartering process.
<h4 class="hr">When will Trees For You &amp; Me start?</h4>
The challenge will begin October 1, 2014. The last date to register is January 1, 2015.
<h4>When will Trees For You &amp; Me end?</h4>
The challenge will end at midnight Mountain Standard Time on March 2, 2015. Results will be reported shortly thereafter after all the donations have been recorded by PBI.
<h4 class="hr">How can chapters raise and gather challenge funds?</h4>
Each AAZK chapter can determine the way they want to raise money. Projects in the past have included bake sales, polar plunges, miniature golf events, garage sales, silent auctions, fun runs, spaghetti dinners, car washes, recycling programs, a night out at a local hang-out that allows a 50/50 raffle as a fundraiser, and more. The actual cash handling procedures will be the same that you follow for other campaigns for your chapter at your institution.
<h4>How will the winners be awarded and announced?</h4>
We invite teams to report the amount of funds raised to PBI on December 31, 2014 and March 2, 2015.
PBI will report on the status of the different chapters through an email sent to the AAZK chapters and the coordinator.
AAZK will report on the status of the different chapters on its website and through social media.
PBI will provide $25 towards the purchase of a bush for the team leading the charge at the halfway point on December 31, 2014. PBI will give a $100 prize to the winning chapter to plant a tree. (Adding a plaque is up to the institution.)
<h4>What are the prizes?</h4>
First place is awarded to the team with the most funds donated by Midnight Mountain Standard time on March 2, 2015 and reported to PBI no later than March 4, 2015. The winning team will receive a native tree to plant in a public location with a purchase value from a commercial nursery of no more than $100.
In addition, a challenge prize will be awarded to the team with the most funds donated by Midnight MST December 31, 2014 and reported to PBI by January 5, 2015. That team will receive a native bush to plant in a public location with a purchase value from a commercial nursery of no more than $25.
<h4>How do I start?</h4>
1. Find a group and become a champion.

2. Make plans for events and strategies to raise funds over the course of the challenge, which officially runs from October 1, 2014 - March 2, 2015. (Although the competition begins on October 1, 2014, we’ll do a second push and close the registration on January 1, 2015 since so many chapters participate only in the spring.)

3. Define roles and responsibilities including:</li>
	<li>procedures for handling donations for your chapter and Institution</li>
	<li>reporting to AAZK and PBI during the course of the challenge</li>
	<li>4. Good luck on your efforts!
<h4>How will reporting work?</h4>
Each participating AAZK chapter is responsible for following national AAZK requirements for reporting on funds raised for conservation, as outlined in the re-chartering packet.
PBI requests that each AAZK chapter report on their planting activity with a photo and description on the PBI community page, SOS Community Page.
Acres for the Atmosphere projects or donations for planting in tropical forests should be completed within six months of the close of the challenge fundraiser. (Reports to SOS Community Page would occur between April - November, 2015.)
<h4>What is an example of an  Acres for the Atmosphere project?</h4>
The Acres program involves tree planting, learning, and FUN! Participants plant trees in local communities and also help educate the public about the benefits of tree planting to counteract a warming climate. Funds donated will support grant money for Acres for the Atmosphere plantings.
For more information contact Heather or Marissa at Acres@pbears.org.
<h4>What other projects are eligible for tree planting?</h4>
Your chapter or institution may participate in other conservation programs where tree planting is an important component. Saving tropical forest habitat, for example, impacts species and global climate change. AAZK recommends SaveNature.Org for tropical reforestation projects.
<h4>How Does  Planting Trees Help Polar Bears?</h4>
Trees act as “carbon sinks” that absorb CO2 from the air. They store this carbon in roots, trunks, stems, and leaves while they grow and in wood products after they're harvested.
Reducing the build-up of carbon in the atmosphere is necessary to reverse climate change. Polar  bears depend on the sea ice to hunt, breed, and in some cases to den. Less carbon in the atmosphere means better conditions to retain arctic sea ice and improve polar bear habitat and
survival.
Conservation actions that reduce the production of greenhouse gases are the most impactful efforts to save polar bears. Planting trees is one of the few tools that we have to sequester carbon. Saving tropical rainforests is even more impactful at sequestering CO2. As an individual

As an individual and group you can make difference:
<ul>
	<li>Don’t buy products with palm oil</li>
	<li>Purchase shade-grown coffee</li>
	<li>eat less meat or purchase local meat rather than meat produced in deforested tropical rain forests</li>
</ul>
<h4>For information contact:</h4>
<h6>Trees For You &amp; Me:
Christy christy.mazrimas-ott@aecetia.net/gws/aazk or christy.mazrimas-ott@czs.org
AAZK: Wendy Lenhart, Conservation Committee Wendy.Lenhart@aecetia.net/gws/aazk or lenhart.wendy@phillyzoo.org
PBI: Marissa Krouse at aac@polarbearsinternational.org</h6>
</li>
</ul>