News Releases

(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — As Earth Month 2017 comes to a close, tree planting initiatives in communities across the state are celebrating support of their projects to enhance the tree canopy within the Commonwealth.

The projects are funded, in part, by Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company’s Plant for the Planet grant program. The program awards matching grants in amounts of $500 to $5,000 to organizations with a history of successful tree plantings in the LG&E and KU service territories.

This year 17 organizations across eight Kentucky counties are receiving 2017 Plant for the Planet grants.  Those include:

• In Jefferson County -- Bellarmine University, Louisville Metro Parks, Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Louisville Zoo Foundation, Masonic Homes of Kentucky and Wilderness Louisville Inc.
• In Fayette County – Community Montessori School, Inc., Friends of McConnell Springs and Friends of the Parks. 
• In Madison County – Eastern Kentucky University and the Madison County Fiscal Court.
• In Oldham County – The City of LaGrange Foundation, Inc. and Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve. 
• In Boyle County – The City of Danville. 
• In Mercer County – The City of Harrodsburg.
• In Taylor County – Campbellsville University.
• Hopkins County – The Western KY 4-H Camp Improvement Committee.

“To date, the Plant for the Planet grant program has partnered to support the planting of more than 40,000 trees across our service territories and the grants awarded to these organizations will further grow that number,” said LG&E and KU Director of Corporate Responsibility and Community Affairs Angie Evans. “The benefits these trees will bring to our communities for years to come is a great example of the powerful impact we can have when we work together.”

Since the grant program’s launch in 2009, plantings have occurred in a range of urban and rural settings that offer public access, including parks and nature preserves.  Many successful projects have also used unique approaches to incorporate trees within other landscape settings. 

The Plant for the Planet program is modeled after the United Nations' Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign which promotes the planting of more than one billion trees annually by individuals, communities and businesses worldwide.

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Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies, are regulated utilities that serve nearly 1.3 million customers and have consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. LG&E serves 322,000 natural gas and 403,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. KU serves 546,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia. More information is available at www.lge-ku.com and www.pplweb.com.