HBT Helps Coordinate 9/11 Park Memorial

Hollywood Beautification Team, now referred to as Hollywood /Los Angeles Beautification Team, has a mission of improving neighborhoods through volunteers who live and work in the community. Whether it's by by projects like removing graffiti, mural painting, or planting trees, the organization strives to build grass-roots involvement in bettering the environment.

One meaningful project, initiated in June 2002, involved 29 families gathering in North Hollywood Park to plant trees that memorialized loved ones lost on 9/11. HBT also contributed a memorial space that contains a meditation area. The memorial has the names of 78 Californians who lost their lives enshrined on a plaque. In the years since the 2001 tragedy, the nonprofit has worked with local residents in planting a tree for every California resident lost that day.

In 2021, the memory of the events of 9/11 and its sacrifices were rekindled with a 20th anniversary observance at the North Hollywood Park memorial. In addition to the planting of new trees, the ceremony included a poetry reading and candle lighting.

Drought-Suited Tree Giveaways by HBT

Committed to improving the environment and people’s quality of life, Hollywood Beautification Team (now known as Hollywood /Los Angeles Beautification Team) has been an active presence in Southern California since the early 1990s. One of the team’s ongoing programs that benefits local residents is its tree giveaway for the yard.

Among the types of drought-tolerant trees provided at no cost to Los Angeles residents who plant on private property they own or have access to are African Sumac, Chinese Flame, Australian Willow, and Fruitless Olive.

Fruitless Olive trees are originally from Europe and feature unique trunks that twist and contort. Their distinctive leaves are gray-green on the top and silvery on the underside, and yield tubular, yellowish-white blooms each spring. Among the advantages of this pest-resistant tree, which grows to about 30 feet in height, is that it bears no pavement-staining olives and poses no issue to those with allergies.

A medium-size evergreen, the Australian Willow features pale and narrow green leaves that hang down for a” weeping” effect. Blooming occurs in the late autumn or winter, with flowers creamy-white and inconspicuous. Native to drought-prone interior parts of Australia, the willow offers excellent shade and thrives in dry and sandy to heavy loam soils that are well-drained.