- From Conception Bay to Yellowknife, nearly 3,000 volunteers joined TD Friends of the Environment Foundation to make inaugural TD Tree Days a success -

TORONTO, Sept. 27 /CNW/ - TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF) is proud to announce its first annual TD Tree Days initiative resulted in the successful planting of nearly 20,000 trees in over 50 urban and rural communities across Canada. From September 18 to 26, 2010, almost 3,000 TD employees and their friends and families pitched in to enhance their urban canopies and forests by planting trees in their local communities.

"TD Tree Days is a national volunteer event with a local focus on adding more trees to our communities," said Mary Desjardins, Executive Director, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. "We're really proud of what our amazing teams of volunteers accomplished. Nearly twenty thousand trees in over 50 communities in two weeks is an incredible result and will help preserve and protect our environment for future generations."

Working with expert partners including Tree Canada, TD FEF ensured volunteers planted trees native to each site's area and climate to help maximize their growing potential. TD Tree Days volunteers planted species including Douglas Firs and Western Red Cedars.

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    TD Tree Days highlight include:

    -   Volunteers in Conception Bay South planted more than 700 trees, just
        days after Hurricane Igor battered Newfoundland & Labrador
    -   Laval and Montreal added 200 and 150 trees respectively in "la belle
        Province"
    -   Toronto, Canada's largest city, added 2,700 trees to its urban canopy
        in Downsview Park and MacCowan District Park
    -   In Calgary, more than 900 trees were planted in Shouldice Park and
        Glenmore Park making "Cow Town" a bit greener
    -   Volunteers made Vancouver even more green by planting 350 trees over
        two weekends
    >>

"It's fitting that TD Tree Days coincided with National Forest Week, which encourages Canadians to recognize the important role trees play in our environment," adds Desjardins. "It's really encouraging to see so many Canadians come together to plant trees in their communities."

About TD Friends of the Environment Foundation:

Since 1990, TD FEF has provided more than $53 million in funding to over 19,000 grassroots environment and wildlife projects across Canada. Thousands of donors give to TD FEF on a monthly basis and TD Bank Financial Group contributes in excess of $1 million annually. TD also covers the management costs of running TD FEF, which guarantees 100 per cent of every dollar donated goes directly to funding environment and wildlife projects in the community where the donation was made. For more information on how to donate and get involved in your community, visit www.tdfef.com.

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