Former New York Knick Allan Houston plants a tree with the JNF in Israel.
(If his former teammate Charles Oakley did the same, would he plant an oak? Wacka Wacka.)
Here’s the press release.
[[READMORE]]
August 27, 2009 — New York, NY — In Israel for the first time, NBA star Allan Houston and his wife Tamara, took time out of their sightseeing schedule to engage in the time-honored tradition of planting a tree with Jewish National Fund (JNF).
Allan planted a Ficus tree in the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens while Tamara looked on. The couple promised to return in a few years with their five children to check on the tree’s status.
“We are very excited to be in Israel and plant a tree, one of some 240 million trees planted in this country so far,” said Allan, who has stayed on with the New York Knicks since retiring and works on player development. “We thank JNF for bringing us here, and will definitely come back with all our kids.”
The Houstons are in Israel with the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC).
Jewish National Fund (JNF) began in 1901 collecting coins in blue boxes to purchase land and return the Jewish people to their homeland. In over 107 years, JNF has evolved into a global environmental leader and become the central address for partnering with the land and people of Israel. JNF has planted 240 million trees; built over 1,000 parks and recreational areas; constructed security roads; educated students around the world about Israel; created new communities so that Jews from around the world would have a place to call home; discovered new means of growing plants under arid conditions, bringing green to the desert; and built over 200 reservoirs and water recycling centers, increasing Israel’s water supply by 10%. Today, JNF is supporting Israel’s newest generation of pioneers by bringing life to the Negev Desert, Israel’s last frontier.
A United Nations NGO, JNF sponsors international conferences on desertification, shares afforestation techniques, and funds research on arid land management. JNF is a registered 501(c)(3) organization and continuously earns top ratings from charity overseers. For more information on JNF, call 888-JNF-0099 or visit http://www.jnf.org/.
