The Michael Jackson Fan Club

What is "A Million Trees for Michael"?

It's a site for Michael Jackson fans where we can give a gift back to Michael Jackson in return for the music & memories he gave to us for nearly 5 decades! $15 plants 15 trees! Keep reading to learn more and to see how easy it is to do!

How Did this Project Come About?

Being a longtime fan of Michael Jackson, Trisha Franklin was really excited to see the movie, “This Is It”, about the making of Michael’s last concert. She was even lucky enough to see it on opening night! The film lived up to her expectations even more and was utterly captivating, showing a side of Michael that was real and vulnerable, yet you also saw the genius in action. If you haven’t had the privilege of seeing it yet, go see it!

As much as she enjoyed the entire film (she saw it 3 times now!), there was one segment that moved her to tears and she felt an instant kinship with this kind-hearted, soft spoken musical prodigy. Ever since Franklin was a little girl, she had a passion to make a positive difference in the world. No one can dispute that Michael shared a similar passion… he was a real humanitarian who loved the Earth and wanted to do his part to “heal the world and make it a better place”. That is evidenced over and over from the myriad of charitable activities in which he was involved. 

The segment she is referring to featured Michael’s “Earth Song”, which included a video of a lush and beautiful rain forest. A sweet little girl appears, who starts to run and play with the colorful butterflies surrounding her. After awhile she grows tired and lays her little head down on some moss, where she gently falls asleep. While she is sleeping, we are shown various scenes of destruction, including an ominous bulldozer, unearthing all of the trees in that lovely rain forest.

Next we see scenes of animal cruelty and other acts of senseless violence, including the burning of the rain forest, which has now been completely destroyed. Suddenly the little girl is awakened from her slumber and looks in horror at the smoldering forest surrounding her. She looks up and sees the bulldozer rolling towards her and she jumps to her feet to run away. As she’s running through the forest, she comes upon one little green tree, the last one remaining in the smoking forest. She instinctively knows that she needs to save this lone tree so she falls to her knees and frantically starts digging, continuing to look over her shoulder at the fast approaching bulldozer. She digs and digs, as the suspense heightens, and then the scene abruptly ends.

Meanwhile, Michael’s haunting melody is playing in the background, “What have we done to the world? Look what we’ve done.”

The song ends and Michael’s voice is then heard, lovingly saying these words:

I love trees. I have a thing for trees. The colors and the changing of the leaves… I love it!”

His voice becomes somber as he continues, “The Earth is sick. Everyone thinks someone else will take care of the problems, the government or someone else. Noooo… no one is going to do it for us. It’s up to us! It’s up to us to do our part to heal the world.”

Even as Franklin writes these words her eyes are tearing up at the remembrance of his tender plea. When the movie was over, no one in the audience wanted to leave. Everyone sat in their seats, young and old alike, mesmerized by the images and the music we had just experienced on this unique two hour journey we had shared. As Franklin walked out of the theater she was still choked up, unable to say anything… Michael’s pleas had really touched my heart.

Suddenly she had an idea, a wonderful idea! Franklin had been planting trees through the non-profit company, “American Forests”, ever since she had discovered this great organization. They have been quietly helping to re-forest the Earth for almost 135 years, planting seedling trees all over the world for… are you ready for this?… only $1.00 per tree!!

What if we could take up Michael’s challenge and give a gift back to him, by planting trees in his honor? What if we could plant millions of trees for him, all over the world, and make a significant contribution to the welfare of the world?

Michael has been a part of our lives for almost 5 decades and has given so much to us, through his music, his talent, his amazing dance moves, and so much more. Wouldn’t his fans welcome the chance to do something for him, to give a tangible gift to this beloved icon? For me that answer was a resounding “YES!” In my mind, Franklin envisioned “Michael Jackson Memorial Forests” on every continent in the world. What a wonderful addition to the amazing legacy that Michael had already left.

She was so excited at this prospect that she could hardly wait for Monday morning, when she had planned to call American Forests to discuss my idea. Franklin called and spoke to several people there, who thought it was a good idea but they had some reservations. With the economy being what it is, donations were down and there was no money left in the budget to start a new project.

Franklin said when she becomes excited about an idea and truly believe in it, she can be pretty convincing and she wasn’t about to let go of this one! Over the week-end Franklin had a chance to really think about it and as far as she could see, it was a win-win-win for everybody. A win for Michael, as we would plant beautiful forests in his name all over the world. A win for his fans, as she believed they would be honored to be a part of this and give a gift back to Michael. And, best of all, a win for this beautiful Earth of ours, a win that would continue to grow and benefit not only us, but future generations to come. And all for only $15 (American Forest’s minimum), which will plant 15 trees for Michael.

How to Donate

No money EVER comes to me, Trisha Franklin, the creator of this project…it’s all done through the non-profit organization, American Forests, which has been around since 1875! American Forests will be putting up a special link on their website called, “A Million Trees For Michael” and fans will eventually be able to easily donate by clicking on this link. Until that happens, however, here are the 3 ways to donate:

1. go to www.AmericanForests.org and click on “donate now”; click on “I want my donation to go to a specific project”, then go to the drop down menu and click on the last option, “Trees In Remembrance”, then enter the number of trees you want to plant …(15 is the minimum but you can plant more if you’d like) and click on “choose this project”. Then fill out your information and type MJ (all caps) in the “appeal code” box. You MUST do this for the trees to be credited toward the MJ Memorial Forest!

Under “Name of honored person” type in “Michael Jackson”, then your name in the “From” box; you may then choose to add, “In Honor Of” or “In Memory Of” or you may type in your own personal message for Michael. You can even preview what your certificate will look like before selecting the final version. That’s all there is to it!

2. The second way, if you prefer to pay by credit card, is to call them at (800) 545-TREE (8733) and do this over the phone. There is a $15. minimum, which will plant 15 trees, but you may give more if you are moved to do so. Since American Forests is a non-profit organization, your gift is also tax deductable. You MUST say tell them you are planting trees for Michael Jackson.

The third way is to send a check or money order to:

American Forests
734 15th St. NW, Ste 800
Washington, DC 20005

Important: You MUST include a note that your donation is for the “Michael Jackson Memorial Forest” project.

For all 3 ways, you will receive a certificate with your name printed on it, showing that you made this donation for Michael Jackson. (read less) Please pass the word on to everyone you know whose lives were touched by this remarkable person.

As Michael said, “No one else will heal the world for us… it’s up to us to do it!”

Let me end with these words which Michael spoke, from the movie, “This Is It”:

“Love each other. We are all one. Take care of the planet. Love lives forever”.

PS: American Forests has set aside land in California and said they could start the first “Michael Jackson Memorial Forest” with a Spring planting in 2010. I will be getting a daily tally of the trees planted for Michael and I will keep you posted as to how many trees have been planted. Let the planting begin!!!