The Alabama Tree Recovery Campaign, launched in June by the Alabama Forestry Commission and the Arbor Day Foundation, was created to restore trees destroyed across the region in last year's storms. Citizens, businesses and organizations from across the country made donations through the Arbor Day Foundation for the project.

The campaign got its start when Letson said his organization began to receive phone calls from people interested in replacing trees in affected areas within a week after the April 27 tornado. Letson said he called his friend Dan Lambe, vice president of programs for the Arbor Day Foundation, for help. The non-profit Arbor Day Foundation works to "inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees," Lambe said.

The Arbor Day Foundation and the Alabama Forestry Commission are giving away 30,000 trees to help replant Alabama communities that were devastated by tornadoes last year.