Becoming Part of the Forest: How Volunteers and Donors Can Help Grow the Memorial Healing Forest

Help Us Grow the Memorial Healing Forest

Help us create a living tribute near Clavet, Saskatchewan—a forest that honours the lives lost in the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy, while also remembering earlier moments of grief that have shaped the hockey community and the province. The idea for this tribute echoes the spirit of Canada’s Highway of Heroes Tree Tribute, which honours veterans through living memorials of trees. In the same way, this forest will stand as a legacy of remembrance, resilience, and community care, offering a place where people can come together to reflect, heal, and reconnect with the land.

This forest also honours the 1986 Humboldt Broncos bus accident, which claimed the lives of players including Scott Kruger, Trent Kresse, and Brent Ruff, and the 1980 Swift Current Broncos accident, which took the life of Bryan Pergel. By naming these events openly and respectfully, the forest acknowledges that grief and resilience echo across generations. The trees become symbols of continuity—rooted in loss, but growing toward hope.

The Memorial Healing Forest will not erase grief. But it may transform it—into shelter, into shade, into songbird habitat, into carbon stored safely in the ground. It becomes a place where memory is not held in isolation, but shared through living systems that continue to grow, change, and give back.

The Memorial Healing Forest near Clavet, Saskatchewan is not being built by machines or institutions alone. It is being built by people—by hands in soil, by donated materials, by time freely given, and by the quiet accumulation of small, meaningful acts of care.

This is a restoration project that understands something simple but often forgotten: forests are not created. They are assembled slowly, collectively, and imperfectly by communities willing to show up for the land.

And so, the invitation is open.

Not only to witness the forest growing—but to help build it.

Volunteer Hours: Time as a Form of Restoration

Volunteers are at the heart of this project. Every hour contributed becomes part of the ecological foundation of the forest.

Volunteer roles may include:

Tree planting and site restoration
Mulching and soil improvement
Installing protective tree shelters
Constructing hugelkultur mounds and water-holding features
Laying rock mulch and arranging micro-habitats
Trail building and site maintenance
Monitoring plant survival and ecological change
Assisting with educational signage and community events

Whether someone gives a single afternoon or an entire season, every hour contributes to long-term ecological recovery.

Volunteer hours can also support school programs, community service requirements, corporate volunteering initiatives, and youth engagement programs focused on environmental learning.

What the Forest Needs: Community Donations That Grow Life

The Memorial Healing Forest is designed to be materially rooted in place—built from local, natural, and donated resources wherever possible. If you have access to any of the following materials, they can directly support restoration efforts.

Tree Saplings

Native or climate-adapted saplings are essential for establishing canopy cover and biodiversity. Species suited to prairie conditions are especially valuable.

Tree Branches (Non-Elm Only)

Branches are used in hugelkultur systems, where decomposing wood becomes a long-term moisture reservoir beneath soil mounds. These structures help young trees survive drought and extreme prairie conditions.

Native Plant Shoots or Seeds

Native grasses, shrubs, and wildflowers help restore ecological balance, support pollinators, and rebuild prairie biodiversity. Local genetic stock is especially important.

Rocks and Stones

Rocks are used for rock mulching, microclimate stabilization, dew capture, and soil protection. Each stone placed around a sapling helps reduce evaporation and improve survival rates.

Raked Leaves and Grass Clippings

Organic material is vital for soil building. Leaves and grass contribute to mulch layers that retain moisture, suppress weeds, and feed soil organisms.

Manure and Compost

Well-aged manure and compost help rebuild compacted soils, improve fertility, and support microbial life essential for tree growth.

Landscaping Tools and Equipment

Donations of tools such as shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, augers, gloves, sheds or wood for sheds and protective equipment directly increase the capacity of volunteer crews and community planting events.

Why These Materials Matter

Every item donated is more than a resource—it is part of a system of ecological repair.

Branches become water storage underground
Leaves become soil
Rocks become microclimates
Seeds become future canopy
Volunteer hours become stewardship

This is regenerative design in practice: nothing is wasted, and everything has a role in rebuilding life.

A Community-Grown Forest

The Memorial Healing Forest is built on the idea that ecological restoration is also social restoration. It brings together individuals, families, schools, farmers, businesses, and organizations in a shared act of care.

It is a place where:

Students learn by planting
Families donate materials that return to the land
Volunteers shape living ecosystems with their hands
Communities leave behind not extraction, but growth

This is not simply about planting trees.

It is about planting relationships—with land, with each other, and with future generations.

How to Get Involved

If you would like to contribute volunteer time or donate materials, you are helping to directly shape one of Saskatchewan’s emerging ecological restoration and remembrance landscapes.

Every contribution—large or small—in kind or financial – becomes part of a forest that will grow long after the moment it is given.

Because forests, like communities, are built through participation.

And this one is waiting for you.

To get involved, support the project, or stay connected, please reach out. friendsafforestation@gmail.com

🌲 Help Grow a Living Tribute Near Clavet, Saskatchewan 🌲

We’re creating something meaningful together—a Memorial Healing Forest honouring the lives lost in the 2018 Humboldt Broncos tragedy, while also remembering earlier losses that shaped our province’s hockey community. This forest is more than trees; it’s a place for reflection, healing, and hope—where memory takes root and grows forward.

Inspired by Canada’s living memorial traditions, this project transforms grief into something lasting: shelter for wildlife, space for people, and a growing legacy of resilience.

💚 You can be part of it.
This forest is being built by community—by hands in the soil, time freely given, and materials shared with purpose.

We’re looking for:
🌱 Volunteers (planting, restoration, trail work, monitoring)
🌿 Tree saplings & native seeds
🪵 Branches (non-elm) for hugelkultur
🪨 Rocks for moisture retention
🍂 Leaves, grass, compost, manure
🛠️ Tools & equipment

Every contribution matters. Every action helps restore land, support biodiversity, and create a place where people can gather, learn, and remember.

This isn’t just about planting trees—it’s about planting relationships, stewardship, and a future rooted in care. https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com/2026/04/26/becoming-part-of-the-forest/

📩 Get involved or learn more: friendsafforestation@gmail.com

#HumboldtStrong #MemorialForest #RootedInHope #Saskatchewan #CommunityHealing #EnvironmentalStewardship #PlantingHope

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