Girl Scouts to help plant 13 trees to beautify area near Community Supermarket in Penn Hills

A group of Girl Scouts from the Plum area that regularly picks up litter along Milltown Road in Penn Hills will help plant 13 trees on a segment of road near Community Supermarket this month.

Laura Caruso of Plum said she applied for a grant from Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s TreeVitalize last year, hoping to land the amount of money to plant trees sometime during 2020. Caruso volunteers with Girl Scouts.

The covid-19 pandemic had other plans for the project. A year later, the money has been secured, along with other support from the Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission and Penn Hills Municipality.

“We’re really excited about it,” Caruso said. “The trees will flower in the spring, and I think it will really help beautify the area.”

Kathy Raborn, director of the Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission, said the area is a good place to add trees and beauty.

“But all places are good to add more trees,” she said with a laugh.

The commission helped Caruso obtain grant money by writing a letter of support for the project, Raborn said. She said the commission had not considered the stretch for tree-planting, but that the market communicated they had wanted something done to beautify it for a while.

Part of the project involved removing a strip of asphalt that might have been used as a driveway to an old school years ago, Raborn said.

Caruso, a former Girl Scout, said she adopted a two-mile segment of Milltown Road around four years ago to organize litter pickups along the road.

She said around 40 volunteers from various Girl Scout troops come to each semi-annual event and collectively pick up around 150 bags of trash each time.

The 13 trees will be planted by TreeVitalize on April 20 just outside Community Supermarket. The Girl Scouts will finish the job on April 24, a Saturday, Caruso said. The group will also tie in a litter pickup event that day along Milltown Road.

Caruso said volunteers are welcome to join the litter pickup at 9 a.m. on April 24. She said vests, gloves and bags will be provided.

Call Caruso at 412-841-6406 for more information.