It’s no secret that climate change has made its presence known with increasingly catastrophic weather events, the call to action is louder than ever. The Portland Timbers are choosing to focus on sustainability efforts for the upcoming 2024 season, our ongoing “Score a Goal, Plant a Tree” (SAGPAT), program really highlights these efforts. Introduced in 2011, through SAGPAT, for every goal scored by the Timbers, Friends of Trees will plant a tree within the Portland community and these trees create lasting change in our neighborhoods. SAGPAT is made possible by our partnership with Daimler Truck North America by helping to enable Friends of Trees to fulfill this initiative every year. Based on the current goal count of our 2023 seasons, PTFC staff are already preparing for a big planting effort with Friends of Trees in January 2024.
SAGPAT is one of the many ways the club represents the team’s commitment to its fans and the community where those fans live. The Portland Timbers are committed to improving the quality of life for children and families throughout the greater-Portland area through focused giving and extensive community outreach. PTFC’s community outreach program, Stand Together, just completed its 12th annual Stand Together Week in which it served 1,298 volunteer hours from September 3-9, 2023.
Since the start of SAGPAT, the Timbers have planted over 10,700 trees. These trees and shrubs absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 1.9M pounds a year, remove 513,600 pounds of pollutants each year and intercept over 25.4M gallons of storm water runoff to keep our rivers clean. The program is part of the club's commitment towards creating a more sustainable environment. More information will be shared as our Stand Together program gets closer to its yearly tree planting with Friends of Trees for the annual Score A Goal, Plant A Tree event early next year.
SAGPAT is presented by Daimler Truck North America, a leader in sustainable transportation. Sustainability is one of their core values, you can read more about it here.
