Carvings for a Cause, a 501(c)3 organization, uses trees downed from storms and transforms them into works of art, and ‘likenesses’ of individuals, that are significant or have added to the Western New York region history. Therese Forton-Barnes inspirational idea came from an unprecedented October 2006 storm. The project not only benefited Buffalo by leaving a 34-piece to date art trail in its wake, but garnered much national publicity, including stories in The New York Times, USA Today, Monday Night Football, ESPN, FOX TV, Chicago Tribune, NPR Radio, The Jay Leno Show and various others media outlets world wide.

How Carvings for a Cause Came to Be

I was in Albany on October 15, 2006 at a friend’s home, and he had some incredible art made from wood and an idea came to me! Let’s get as many stumps of wood from our disastrous storm and make them into sculptures. This is not only a great way to use the wood, raise funds, but also a wonderful way for people view something that they will be able to cherish forever from our dilapidated trees, and also a way to donate back to our community rebuilding tree planting efforts.

The pieces that I saw in Albany were made by Rick Pratt of Corfu, NY. You can see most of his work on his website www.Chainsawartist.com He does wonderful work on all sorts of different wood. He does wood art in all different forms from sea life to forest life to angels and hockey players. Rick has been extremely helpful in my quest to obtain the trunks and has gone to the Elma dumpsite a few times to mark the ideal tree trunks for carvings.

Want to get involved? Please contact: Therese Forton-Barnes,
716-886-3711, for more information.

When not devoting time to Carvings for a Cause Therese operates Events to a Tee, her own event planning business, and authors children’s books about her beloved dogs, Zaki and Venus Adventure Books.
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About Our Trees

There over 20 different species of trees selected to be carved including:

Chinese Elm, Red Oak, Norway Maple, Silver Maple, Lanthis "Tree of Heaven", Bald Cypress, Callery Pear, Box Elder, Black Willow, Green Ash, Hawthorn, Black Locust, Scotts Pine, Sugar Maple, European Beech, Hackberry, Red Maple, hophornbeam, American Linden, Austrian Pine, Cornus Mas, Russian Olive, Coffeetree, Ginko, Cherry Spp., Willow Spp.,
Poplar Spp.and Elm Spp.

These trees have come from different public parks in our community, including Cazenovia, Delaware, Martin Luther King, Jr., Riverside, and South Park.

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