Matthew Evans Goes Green
When Matthew Evans turned 15, didn’t just want a traditional pizza and cake party, he wanted to have a celebration with a purpose. So, like thousands of other revolutionary 4-H youth around the country, he created an event for his guests to give back to the community. And then they ate pizza.
Evans and his friends planted 30 trees at Pflugerville Lake in his hometown of Pflugerville, Texas, for his “party with a purpose,” and the successful event gave him a spark for another idea.
“I wanted to establish something that got kids involved in community service, and showed them the purpose and results of their projects,” Evans said.
And with that, he started Discover Green, a nationally recognized non-profit that helps keep communities and local environments clean from trash and invasive species, and provides gardens and forestry.
Since the launch in October 2008, Discover Green projects have planted 6,000 trees, removed 50 tons of trash, cleared 40 acres of invasive plants not native to Texas, labeled 2,400 storm drains and planted gardens and habitats in the community.
“I’m just amazed at how fast it grew and how much we’ve done in two and a half years,” said Evans, who credits the achievements to the type of experience youth have in Discover Green. “We provide different opportunities for youth than what other organizations allow kids to do. You can’t always see the families in food banks or you may not get the same impact at nursing homes. You can see the change in the community with our projects.”
Discover Green’s impact rose to a national level in 2010 when it was one of many organizations nationwide chosen to participate in Disney’s “Give a Day” campaign. Nine hundred volunteers planted 1,000 trees and removed more than a ton of trash at sites in Austin, San Antonio and Pflugerville. It was the only family organization in the area with events for youth ages 6 to 14.
“That was a big deal for families with kids in that age range,” Evans said. “We had 900 volunteers, and 300 of them were youth.”
Now a 17-year-old graduating senior, Evans hopes to have his organization serve in a larger capacity for youth who have similar visions for improving the world around them.
“Five years from now, I hope Discover Green will be able to provide grants nationwide to projects that kids are passionate about, and that public schools will have Discover Green groups where elementary kids plant saplings and high school kids keep the forests clean.”