A generous giveaway is helping to restore the area’s tree canopy after Hurricane Helene.

It’s amazing what can happen when people put their heads together to do something for the greater good.

As the recovery process has dragged on since Hurricane Helene struck in September, Jordan Trotter Commercial Real Estate employees decided to brainstorm about ways to help the community bounce back from the devastation of the storm. They came up with the idea to give away two trees per family in an initiative called “Rooting for Augusta: Restoring Augusta’s Tree Canopy.”

“Our two partners, Troy Jordan and Dennis Trotter, really value the community and giving back to the community,” says Riley Morris, marketing associate. The company partnered with GoBuyPlants and Four Seasons Landscaping Inc. for the giveaway.

Initially planned as a two-hour event that was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Saturday, January 11, all of the trees – 700 in total – were distributed in an hour and 15 minutes.

People started showing up for the drive-through event in front of the Family Y track on Wheeler Road at 7:15 a.m., Riley says, but they didn’t start giving out trees until 9 a.m. as scheduled.

They loaded trees into truck beds, back seats of cars or trunks.

“People came in everything from trailers to Honda Accords,” says Morris. “It didn’t matter what kind of vehicle they had. We made it work.”

The giveaway included native tree species such as magnolias, cedars, red and white oaks, sycamores and elms.

“Our employees went car-to-car and took everyone’s tree order,” says Morris. “The magnolia and cedar trees went really fast. The red oaks and white oaks went right after them. Even though two trees won’t replace the 20 trees that people might have lost, you have to start somewhere.”

The giveaway not only was designed to help restore Augusta’s tree canopy. The event also was a community-driven effort to replant, revitalize and regrow the landscape for future generations.

“Everyone lost a lot in the storm. Some people lost their homes or cars,” Morris says. “There was so much devastation, and everyone was looking for some glimmer of hope. We all want to see the CSRA restored to what it once was.”

The real estate company also is considering holding another tree giveaway in the future.

“I think it turned out better than we ever could have imagined,” says Morris. “We’ve had great feedback, but we would like to hear from the community to see if this is something they would like for us to do again.”