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Katrina. A hike. 2175 trees.
New Orleans suffered many
losses in Katrina and its aftermath. One of the major casualties
was the city's trees. Over 100,000 were lost, including
most of the beautiful magnolias and many live oaks.
In 2006, lifelong New Orleans resident Monique Pilié hiked the
2175 miles of the Appalachian Trail, starting in Georgia and ending in Maine.
Her goal was to raise awareness of the storm's impact on the city's treescape and to raise enough money to
plant one tree in New Orleans for every mile she hiked. To that end
she started
a non-profit organization called "Hike for KaTREEna".
On October 7 2006, after six months hiking, she finished the Appalachian Trail, arriving at Mt Katahdin in
Maine. During the hike she raised thousands of dollars.
Monique, together with hundreds of Hike for KaTREEna volunteers
and local and national groups has continued that fundraising effort and planted
hundreds of trees. But to reach the goal of 2175 trees, Hike for KaTREEna needs
support from individual and corporate sponsors. Will you be one of them?
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