Survivor Tree Seedling Program

The Survivor Tree seedling program was launched on September 11, 2013, in partnership with Bartlett Tree Experts of Stamford, Connecticut, and John Bowne High School in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens.

The following communities have committed to nurturing these trees to serve as landmarks symbolizing resiliency and hope.

2023

• Waukesha, WI: For the incident on November 21, 2022, that killed six and injured 62 when an SUV intentionally plowed into a crowd gathered for the city's Christmas parade. The spirit of the community remains strong and intact despite the horrific incident.  

• Uvalde Memorial Hospital: For the heroic role they played in response to the mass shooting that occurred on May 24, 2022. Nineteen students and two teachers were shot and killed at Robb Elementary School in the small town that day. Uvalde Memorial Hospital was tasked with treating 15 people. 11 of the people that were treated were children, and the hospital handled the tremendous responsibility with grace.  

• Little Rock, AR: For withstanding widespread and major tornado outbreaks on Friday, March 31, 2023. The storms tore across parts of the midwestern, southern, and eastern United States, spinning 122 tornadoes in a 24-hour period. As a result, five people were killed, dozens were injured, and tens of thousands were left without power.  

2022

• Ukraine: For the thousands of casualties resulting from the ongoing unprovoked war with Russia, which invaded in February 2022. The invasion sparked the country's largest refugee crisis since World War II.

• Buffalo, NY: For the strength its people demonstrated in the face of the May 2022 mass shooting, an act of domestic terrorism that left 10 dead and three wounded at a Tops Supermarket. 

• The Community of Miami-Dade County, FL: For its perseverance after the June 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, which killed 98 people. 

2021

• The World Health Organization (WHO), for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Norway communities of Oslo and Utøya: 77 total people killed by a gunman on July 22, 2011

• Santa Fe High School. On May 18, 2018, a 17-year-old high school student in Santa Fe, Texas, shot and killed eight students and two teachers and wounded 13 others

2020

• The Bahamas, devastated by Hurricane Dorian, which killed 70 people.

• Christchurch, New Zealand, the site of a mass shooting, which killed 51 people.

• Seedlings were also donated to five hospitals throughout New York City’s five boroughs in honor of the healthcare workers responding to the health crisis.

2019

• Las Vegas, Nevada, where a gunman killed 58 people and injured 400 more at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in October 2017.

• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where 11 people were shot and killed and six were injured at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

• The country of Greece, where 102 died and 172 were injured in a series of wildfires in 2018. The municipality of Marathon will accept the seedling on behalf of the country.

2018

• Parkland, Florida, where a gunman killed 17 people in February 2018, including students and staff members, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
• London, England, in memory of those who lost their lives, and on behalf of the bereaved, the survivors, and all those affected by the tragic Grenfell Tower fire.
• Puerto Rico, after the catastrophic Hurricane Maria, which left an estimated 2,975 people dead in its wake.

2017

• Manchester, England, in memory of the 22 people, including young adults and children, who were killed by a terrorist bombing at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017.
• Charleston, South Carolina, in memory of the nine people killed in a shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
• The country of Haiti, which was devastated by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.

2016

• San Bernardino, California, in memory of the 14 people killed and 22 injured on December 2, 2015.
• Orlando, Florida, in memory of the 49 people killed and 58 injured at Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016. The seedling has been planted at the Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando.
• The country of France, in memory of the 139 people killed and 368 people injured in Paris on November 13, 2015, and the 86 people killed and 434 injured in the Bastille Day attacks in Nice on July 14, 2016. The seedling has been planted in Paris.

2015

• Newtown, Connecticut, in memory of the 20 schoolchildren and six adults who were killed on December 14, 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
• Joplin, Missouri, in memory of the more than 150 people killed and more than 1,000 injured by a tornado in Joplin on May 22, 2011.
• Madrid, in memory of the 2004 coordinated terror bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid that killed 190 people and wounded 1,800.

2014

• Oso, Washington, in memory of the 43 people killed in a mudslide that struck the small town on March 22, 2014, and in recognition of the town's resiliency.
• Gulfport, Mississippi, to remember those who died in the region devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
• Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, in honor of the 16 victims and survivors of the shootings on November 5, 2009, and April 2, 2014, and in acknowledgment of the continued sacrifice of the men and women who serve and their families.

2013

• Far Rockaway in Queens, New York, which was torn and battered in 2012 by Superstorm Sandy.
• Prescott, Arizona, in honor of the 19 firefighting members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who died on June 30, 2013. The fires in Arizona resulted in the highest number of American firefighters killed in a single incident since 9/11.
• Boston, Massachusetts, in honor of the three people killed in the bombing at its marathon on April 15, 2013.