FirstEnergy Donates 500 Trees to City of Massillon Ahead of Earth, Arbor Days

MASSILLON, Ohio – In celebration of Earth and Arbor days this month, FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) has donated 500 trees to the City of Massillon’s Community Park in Stark County, Ohio. A variety of arborvitaes were planted on April 20 by employees of FirstEnergy and its Ohio Edison electric company throughout the 46-acre park, which is a popular attraction this time of year with baseball fields, walking trails and a playground.

Since April 2021, FirstEnergy has donated and planted more than 17,000 trees throughout its five-state service territory. The company is on track to plant more than 14,000 additional trees this spring. This initiative is an important part of the company’s efforts to reduce FirstEnergy’s carbon footprint, promote responsible use of natural resources and further the advancement of sustainable practices.

Led by FirstEnergy’s Green Team in northeast Ohio, the Massillon tree-planting event is one of several projects employees will complete this year to help nearby parks, nature preserves and communities across FirstEnergy’s entire footprint.

“FirstEnergy contributed the funds to cover the cost of the trees, and more than a dozen employee volunteers spent several hours planting them around the park, which will be enjoyed by many of our local employees and their families,” said Amy Hopkins, an external affairs consultant at FirstEnergy who organized the event. “We were also joined by an employee and volunteer from the Boys & Girls Club of Massillon who wanted to help make a difference this Earth Day by planting trees within our community’s treasured park.”

FirstEnergy’s 10 Green Teams consist of employees from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia who volunteer their time and talents to support a wide variety of environmental initiatives. The groups plan to continue to partner with state park systems, watershed and recycling groups, garden clubs, schools and other environmentally focused organizations in the future to support FirstEnergy’s commitment to building a brighter and more sustainable future.

This year’s donation of trees to the City of Massillon complements FirstEnergy’s donation of a pine tree planted at the Massillon Community Park last year on Arbor Day.

“Trees offer an unlimited number of advantages to our daily lives, such as cleaning the air we breathe, making our city beautiful and providing a home for local wildlife,” said City of Massillon Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry. “We appreciate FirstEnergy and Ohio Edison’s commitment to preserving our local environment so that our plants, trees and animals can continue to thrive for many years.”

In addition to the trees donated and planted in Massillon, FirstEnergy also plans to donate approximately 1,400 trees to the Stark County Park District. The trees will be planted at several parks throughout the area by FirstEnergy employee volunteers beginning April 28.

For more information about FirstEnergy’s environmental and corporate responsibility efforts, please visit www.fecorporateresponsibility.com.

Ohio Edison serves more than one million customers across 34 Ohio counties. Follow Ohio Edison on Twitter @OhioEdison and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OhioEdison.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation’s largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company’s transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com and on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.

Editor’s Note: Photos of FirstEnergy employees planting the trees at Massillon Community Park are available for download on Flickr. Video/B-Roll footage from the tree-planting event can be viewed and downloaded here.