Capital Trees traces its origins to the Garden Club of Virginia, an organization focused on the thoughtful planning and planting of trees. In 2010, four Richmond area clubs, whose members include arborists, horticulturalists and landscape designers, came together to study the environmental and civic benefits of enhancing urban landscapes. The team soon identified multiple places in Richmond where there was an opportunity to create or improve green spaces. From these local roots, Capital Trees was born. As Capital Trees has grown, our mission has expanded. Today, we are a nonprofit organization devoted to designing, restoring and maintaining green spaces in Richmond. As a public-private partnership, we bring together the City, corporations, other nonprofits, foundations and individuals to create a greener, more beautiful, more livable city. With 70 percent of our funding coming from individual donors and volunteers who contributed more than 4,000 hours to Capital Trees in 2016, we are truly a grass roots organization, and we are committed to reinvesting resources into all of our projects. We are proud of the recognition we have received from Governor Terry McAulliffe, who in 2016 designated our three signature projects —The Low Line, Great Shiplock Park, and the 14th Street Initiative— as Virginia Treasures.