University Donates More Than 850 Fruit Trees Across Territory

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS — Two local organizations teamed up to donate more than 850 fruit trees to farmers and families on St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. The organizations, the University of the Virgin Islands’ Caribbean Green Technology Center (CGTC) and the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands (CFVI), want to increase food security, help rebuild farms, and promote access to fresh food.

Farmers and residents received a selection of mango, avocado and papaya trees to increase their orchards or home gardens. The donation was sponsored by Cruzan Rum’s Island Spirit Fund, which was established in partnership with GlobalGiving.

“This project is vital to our community. Farmers have been hit hard in recent years and teaming with CFVI to provide ways for them to increase their production and to say thanks to them for working to feed the community is just a great way to share good health and nutrition and promote agriculture in the community," said Christina Chanes, CGTC research specialist and program coordinator of the tree-donation project. Chanes added the project was designed to include fruit trees that produce at various times throughout the year so that farmers would have continuous production.

To identify families to receive the trees, the project was paired with a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) emergency COVID-19 grant program designed to aid families in dealing with mental health issues and isolation during the pandemic so they could get involved in gardening while sheltering in place.

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