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by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment and greater economic <br /> opportunities for people with low and moderate incomes. Because urban forestry <br /> programs improve the quality of the urban environment, they often meet the <br /> requirements for block grant funding. These CDBG funds have been used in Eugene <br /> for street tree planting by neighborhood groups. <br /> OTHER SOURCES OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT <br /> Government funding is not the only source of revenue for urban forestry <br /> programs. A community tree program may be supported by civic groups, <br /> charitable foundations, private corporations, fund- raising projects or any <br /> combination of these. The following descriptions outline the major opportunities, <br /> but it makes sense to investigate other sources that may be unique to specific <br /> communities. <br /> Community groups and service organizations, such as Jaycees, Rotary, <br /> Lions, Kiwanis and others, exist primarily to make the community a better <br /> place to live. These groups possess the fund raising expertise and the <br /> flexibility to be valuable supporters of an urban forestry program. <br /> Memorial forests, parks or boulevards are areas designated to <br /> perpetuate the memory of individuals in return for cash donations. While this <br /> approach is well accepted, vandals may damage an individual tree or area. In <br /> Vancouver, Washington, this problem has been eliminated by applying cash <br /> donations to capital development in a memorial park, rather than earmarking <br /> them for a specific object or area. <br /> Trusts that have non - profit, tax exempt status allow acceptance of donations <br /> from private citizens or foundations. A trust fund earmarked for a specific <br /> purpose, such as a shade tree program, guarantees to the donors that their <br /> contributions will be used only for that purpose. <br /> Community foundations may be established to solicit tax- deductible <br /> contributions from the community and then distribute the money to urban <br /> forestry projects. <br /> Private foundations are organizations with tax exempt, non - profit status <br /> whose sole purpose is to accept money from donors and distribute it to <br /> worthwhile projects. <br /> Endowment funds serve the same function as foundations, except that the <br /> contributions are maintained as principal, which cannot be spent. The interest <br />