Belmont Teen Receives CA Senate Earth Hero Award

Julien Levy, now 15, has been planting trees with 4-H since he was 5.  Over the years, he's planted hundreds of trees in City and County Parks from Santa Cruz to San Bruno.  As the Teen Leader for the 4-H Million Trees Project, Julien organizes tree planting events in the Bay Area, and educates youth about their ability to combat climate change by planting trees.  Julien also writes grant proposals to fund the creation of tree nurseries in Africa, where tree seedlings cost as little as $.17.  Trees are desperately needed in Africa to reforest areas where as much as 90% of the canopy has been lost to development or the use of charcoal for cooking fires.   The 4-H Million Trees project was started in 2008 by Laura Webber, then 14 and a member of Pacifica 4-H.  Since then, the project has gone viral, enabling over 79,000 youth around the world to help combat climate change by planting over 759,000 trees. 

Julien received the award at the Pacifica EcoFest, where Julien and other Earth Heroes were congratulated by Senator Jerry Hill. 

To learn more about the 4-H Million Trees project, check out either the website at www.4hmilliontrees.org, or their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/4-H-Million-Trees-Project/311665871868   

To learn more about 4-H in Belmont, checkout their webpage at www.belmont4h.org