We are thrilled to tell you that we reached our goal of 100 donations to our GlobalGiving project by December 15th, which means we will receive an additional $5,000 in funding from an anonymous member of the GlobalGiving community. Thank you for helping to make this possible!

Donations made to this project will support one of ten fruit tree nurseries in rural Morocco, which local communities will design and build. These nurseries will be located throughout the country to benefit hundreds of rural villages that neighbor Morocco’s nature protected areas. Beginning in six years (when the trees mature) the proceeds from selling the fruit will nearly double the income of every family – roughly 100,000 people – in the poorest regions of Morocco.

In June 2006, we committed to planting one million fruit trees in Morocco in response to the priority needs expressed by community members. The fruit trees will provide an alternative source of income, allow for the transfer of skills from nursery technicians to community members, and improve the local environment at the same time.

In the upcoming 2007 planting season, the High Atlas Foundation and its Moroccan partners will assist in the implementation of two fruit tree nurseries (including 100,000 saplings) with rural villages on the north and south sides of the High Atlas Mountains. These nurseries are in loving memory of our dear friend, sister, and daughter Kate Jeans-Gail, a former Peace Corps volunteer who served in Morocco and loved the country.