Our First Good Samaritan Award Goes To Jenny Leigh Smith

We are happy to present Jennifer Leigh Smith, founder of Community Carbon Trees, which has been contributing to reforestation in Costa Rica now for many years. I first met Jenny about 15 years ago when she was working with green real estate and helping people find lands that they could not only conserve, but reforest as well.

Community Carbon Trees is a non-profit, community-based organization that produces a highly diverse selection of rare native tropical trees in collaborative tree nurseries and then carefully transports and plants them in a natural forest matrix on deforested cattle pastures owned by struggling farmers. Community Carbon Trees is unique because long-term follow up tree maintenance by fairly paid men and women forms an integral part of the collaborative program designed to empower people living in vulnerable rain forest communities in order to stop deforestation. Jennifer continues to participate in climate change educational presentations with groups, festivals, conferences, schools, and businesses. She is connecting the dots and working to share the ACCT community reforestation model with native diverse species and long-term forest maintenance around the world. Jennifer is available to give dynamic presentations with a range of focus depending on the needs of your group. Her presentations highlight solutions and social entrepreneurship and the magnificent role trees and humans play in meeting a broad range of social and environmental challenges.

Recently, Samaritan Xocolata was fortunate to contribute our chocolate bars to Jungle Dance Dominical's production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Dance Recital. The profits from the sale of the chocolate was donated to Community Carbon Trees. The bars were so popular that they sold out before the show even began, and additional orders were taken for more bars. All in all, we were able to contribute to the planting of 12 trees. We hope to continue to raise funds to support the 1800 or more trees that have already been planted in the Pacific Coast region of Costa Rica.

We congratulate Jenny on her dedication and her beautiful vision. If anyone deserves a chocolate award for being a Good Samaritan to the Earth, it's Jenny!