Charity Spotlight: Safelite Supports “Break a Bat, Plant a Tree”

Every year, the monsoon season wreaks havoc on the Phoenix community. With winds reaching up to 110 miles an hour, the trees that have been landmarks in local parks often get knocked over and destroyed.  Last season was particularly devastating to parks in the community.

Last year, the Arizona Diamondbacks recognized this problem and created the “Break a Bat, Plant a Tree” program in which every time one of their pitchers breaks an opposing team’s baseball bat, they donate a tree to a local Phoenix park. In 2015, 274 trees were donated!

As a D-backs partner, the Safelite AutoGlass team was asked to lend the manpower and volunteers needed to plant the trees.

So last November, a team of 25 Safelite employees volunteered their day off to plant 85 trees in four local Phoenix parks: Roadrunner, Alta Dena, Peirce, and Encanto.

“We were greeted by the city of Phoenix at 7 a.m. with shovels and rakes,” said Safelite Service Delivery Manager Bryant Woody. “Without hesitation, our people got to work on giving homes to the trees.”

“While we were planting the trees, members of the community came to express their gratitude for our generosity and hard work,” he added. “These trees meant much more than just improving the aesthetics of the park to these people of the community. Their kids would now have shade to cool them down when they play at the park again.”

“This type of effort is right up our alley – these are our parks, our trees, our community,” Bryant stressed. “It’s the Safelite Spirit – we care, and we want to give back. At the time you just think you’re planting a tree, which is great, but it’s so much more impactful than that. Weeks later we can reflect on what we contributed. These parks are near our homes – they give us a quiet place to relax and a safe place to play. Most importantly, a place where families can be together.”