NEW ORLEANS, La. – Sept. 27, 2007 – Sallie Mae, Parkway Partners, and AMERICAN FORESTS will participate in a commemorative tree-planting ceremony on October 5 with students from the Martin Luther King Charter School in New Orleans’ lower 9th Ward. The “Katrina ReLeaf” program, created by the Washington, D.C.-based conservation group AMERICAN FORESTS, provides grants to communities in the Gulf Coast region to replant trees destroyed by the devastating hurricanes of 2005.

Thousands of trees in the New Orleans area were killed by floodwaters in the days and weeks following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Trees not only help clean the air and water, provide shade, and create habitat for animals, they also protect coastal communities and ecosystems from erosion. Parkway Partners is one of several New Orleans-area groups to receive replanting grants from Katrina ReLeaf, which was launched in 2006 with major funding from The Home Depot Foundation.

The commemorative tree planting celebrates a larger corporate donation from Sallie Mae’s Business Office Solutions. Sallie Mae, the nation’s leading saving- and paying-for-college company, will pledge $10,000 to Katrina ReLeaf, a donation that will bring thousands of trees back into the Gulf Coast ecosystem.

“Parents, students and schools are Sallie Mae’s primary constituency, and all of these groups have an important stake in assuring a good environmental future,” said Nina Vellayan, president of Sallie Mae Business Office Solutions. “We are proud to make this $10,000 donation in connection with our annual Sallie Mae Summit, and be a positive part of restoring livability to some of the Gulf Coast communities impacted by the hurricanes.”

To commemorate the donation, on October 5 at 1:30 p.m. three Martin Luther King Live Oaks from AMERICAN FORESTS’ Historic Trees program will be planted on school grounds by students and volunteers from Sallie Mae, Parkways Partners, and American Forests. Coastal Live Oaks are native to the Gulf region and a valuable part of the green infrastructure. Each of the 8- to 10-foot trees was grown from the seeds of a tree that shades the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama, where Martin Luther King Jr. embarked on his famous march to Montgomery.

“We are moving into the right season for planting trees in New Orleans and we want to replace as many trees as possible. The Katrina ReLeaf money returned trees to parts of the upper 9th Ward and various neighborhoods and helped kindle the ReLeaf New Orleans initiative. We hope to motivate the lower ninth ward to coordinate planting efforts with their neighbors,” said Jean Fahr, Director of Parkway Partners.

In addition, a group of 40 students from Martin Luther King Charter School will be given George Washington Red Maple saplings to take home and plant in their yards. Media are encouraged to attend.

“Trees grow healthier communities—and they add life to the community,” said AMERICAN FORESTS’ executive director Deborah Gangloff. “As New Orleans continues its long rebuilding process, AMERICAN FORESTS is proud to work with Sallie Mae and Parkways Partners to help begin to restore the many environmental—and social—benefits that trees provide.”

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AMERICAN FORESTS’ mission is to grow a healthier world with trees. Through community-based initiatives we help people understand the many values of trees and restore forest ecosystems in urban and rural areas. Our work encompasses tree planting, urban forestry, environmental education, and community-based forestry.

Sallie Mae is the nation’s leading provider of saving- and paying-for-college programs. The company manages $153 billion in education loans and serves nearly 10 million student and parent customers. Sallie Mae and its subsidiaries offer debt management services as well as business and technical products to a range of business clients, including higher education institutions, student loan guarantors, and state and federal agencies. More information is available at www.salliemae.com. SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.

Parkway Partners- Established in 1982, Parkway Partners is a partnership of citizens and government for the maintenance and beautification of the city's neutral grounds, playgrounds, and parks; the preservation of our urban forest; the transformation of unsightly vacant lots into community gardens and pocket parks; the protection and beautification of historic monuments; and the development of school yard gardens.