Floresta USA, San Diego

The founders of Plant With Purpose began the organization in 1984 after noticing the connections between poverty and the environment. Those connections live on today—deforestation forces poor, rural communities into even more intense poverty by hindering their abilities to live off the land. In an effort to meet the needs of their families, subsistence farmers engage in slash-and-burn agricultural practices that only facilitate the process of deforestation. Plant With Purpose aims to restore tree cover to deforested areas in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America, thereby reviving the environment and benefiting the subsistence farmers who rely on it. The organization has also expanded its work to include other community-building services, such as providing loans, sharing agricultural techniques, and training communities in peace and reconciliation.