By MADDY VITALE
There are some raffle wins that have long-lasting effects. An annual tree raffle sponsored by the Sea Isle City Environmental Commission certainly fits into that category.
In fact, the impact of supplying and planting 30 trees could be great for not just the lucky winners, but for the environment, environmental officials said.
“They certainly are beautiful. But they also are important for the environment,” Environmental Commission Chairwoman Annette Lombardo said Sunday. “Trees help the environment. They help the air, besides being pretty.”
The commission will host its annual Tree Raffle starting Tuesday. Winners will select from three choices free of charge: limelight hydrangea (lime green/cream/pink flowers), crepe myrtle (pink flowers, July to September), or little gem magnolia (green all year; flowers spring to late fall).
“They are all flowering bushes and plants and they help the environment,” Lombardo noted. “The magnolias are green year-round and the crepe myrtles and the hydrangea make beautiful flowers. Over the years, those were the favorites to choose from.”
Raffle winners will be announced at the Art/Green Fair on Saturday, June 4. The fair is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Excursion Park. The Environmental Commission is among the sponsors of the event.
Winners will be chosen during a random drawing at the fair. One tree maximum will be awarded per winning property.
Entries will be available at the Sea Isle City Welcome Center, 300 JFK Blvd, and online at www.seaislecitynj.us on the Environmental Commission page.
Lombardo said, as in previous years, there is a lot of interest in the tree raffle.
The tree giveaway began in 2019. At that time 23 trees were given away to the lucky raffle winners. The raffle was canceled along with the Green Fair in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, in 2021, and again this year, Lombardo said the environmental commission wanted to make up for it by giving away 30 trees instead.
Trees will be planted on Sea Isle City properties only at no cost to the property owner, Lombardo pointed out.
Typically, it would cost a homeowner $250 per tree if they had to pick up the cost. The tree itself is $125 and the landscaping company the commission uses charges $125 to plant each tree.
The tree raffle is one of the reasons the commission works hard each year to produce and sell environmental T-shirts. The proceeds go to the purchase of the trees and the planting of them, Lombardo explained.
“That is the only fundraiser we have every year,” she added.
A company hired by the Environmental Commission delivers the trees to the properties, where homeowners put out flags in areas they wish for the trees to be planted, she said.
The end result and the long-lasting positive impact are the reasons the Environmental Commission continues to host the tree giveaways.
“You plant one thing and you never know. One guy planted one and said he wanted to purchase two more. They were crepe myrtles,” Lombardo said. “His neighbor wanted one, too. That’s what starts the ball rolling.”
For more information visit, www.seaislecitynj.us
