The Million Trees Foundation, Inc. received a major boost with a €23,700 (P1.4 million) grant from Grundfos Foundation of Denmark as a memorandum of agreement was signed yesterday at the SMC Multi-Purpose Center inside the Million Trees Nursery and Eco Learning Center in Quezon City.

MTFI President and Executive Director Melandrew T. Velasco and Grundfos Country Director Thomas Mikkelsen signed the MOA witnessed by the Grundfos IS Support & Operation Team Manager Josephine De La Cerna and staff Kassandra Anne Carmesis, Justine Mislang, Adreian Villanueva and Jerome Dominic Atendido who made possible the grant approval.

As the world's leading pump company, Grundfos' founder, Poul Due Jensen, created the foundation on 19 May 1975. Poul Due Jensen wanted to make sure that his company would continue to serve the best interest of society for many generations to come.

As such, he transferred ownership of the company to the Grundfos Foundation (Poul Due Jensen Foundation).

According to Mikkelsen, the main purpose of the Grundfos Foundation is to ensure and support healthy economic growth and development, but it also donates funds to important philanthropic purposes.

In his message, Mikkelsen said: "This project grant for Million Trees Foundation has been approved over projects from other places in the world. This means that our foundation committee thinks that this is a very worthwhile cause and that it goes very well together with our company values."

He added, "I like very much that it is not just, as Mr. Mel Velasco emphasized earlier, we are not just planting the trees and then that's it. No, it goes further than that. It's thinking about how can we integrate this. We talked about the walking trail but also about integrating education. What we need to do is not just fix the immediate problem, we need to change the mindset for the future. And the only way we can do that is by educating people."

He commended the overall efforts of the Million Trees Foundation for serving as the lead NGO of the Annual Million Trees Challenge of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) that started the noble project in 2017 with partner stakeholders which has so far planted 6.8 million trees until 2022 to protect the seven critical watersheds.

"We have a purpose, that is to help the water with the world's climate and water challenges. With water, we can do a lot with our products and our technology to bring water to people. That's what we can really deliver. But in order to protect water, no amount of technology can do that. That's where Mother Nature comes in. And this is where it's so important, in something like this project with Million

Trees Foundation where we plant trees to protect our watersheds," Mikkelsen said.

Called the 9150 CARES GOES GREEN PROJECT, the MOA calls for a) the procurement and planting of 5,000 seedlings/saplings involving fruit bearing and indigenous trees; b) monitoring the actual process of reforestation or rehabilitation needed for one year and replacement of dead saplings if the need arises; c) re-bagging of 1,500 seedlings; and, d) maintenance, operational and information campaign support for the MTFI and the project.