Oakland Partners with Trees Atlanta for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

If you happened to walk through Oakland on the morning of January 19, 2026, you would have spotted Oakland-branded beanies and Trees Atlanta t-shirts throughout the Cemetery, often clustered around piles of soil, impressively sized root balls, and freshly-planted saplings. What a beautiful sight!

Oakland Cemetery is currently home to more than 1,600 trees. But you can never have too many of something that cleans the air, creates shade, supports wildlife habitats, and makes Oakland even more beautiful and serene—so of course, we planted more. On January 19, 2026, for the second year in a row, we partnered with Trees Atlanta to host a Day of Service honoring Atlanta native Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of community service.

Despite frigid morning temperatures, nearly one hundred volunteers showed up for a “day on, not a day off,” gloves in hand and ready to dig, plant, and water in the name of bettering their community. After a demonstration on proper tree-planting techniques led by Trees Atlanta forestry specialists, the group divided into teams and spread out across the cemetery to identify planting sites.

It’s no surprise that when you have leadership from horticultural and forestry experts, plus a large group of passionate volunteers, work moves quickly—in less than two hours, 35 new trees, ranging from 15-gallon to 30-gallon sizes, were planted throughout the Cemetery. The work did not stop there, with volunteers also spreading mulch and removing invasive plants in some of Oakland’s oldest sections.

“Trees Atlanta was elated to host a second year of planting during the National Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service in partnership with the Historic Oakland Foundation team,” says Jake McDonald, Senior Manager of Community Forestry at Trees Atlanta. “Together, our teams collaborated on a robust and diverse tree design with a heavy focus on legacy, overstory trees. These trees will be instrumental in shaping the look (and the shade) of the park for generations to come!”

Thank you to Trees Atlanta and the hardworking volunteers who helped make Oakland even more beautiful while honoring Dr. King’s legacy. We hope to see you at Oakland again soon, whether it’s to volunteer or to simply admire the trees you planted.

Looking to branch out into volunteering in the New Year? Oakland hosts weekly gardening volunteer days every Tuesday morning — no gardening experience needed. Apply here to join the crew.

View photos of the Day of Service below.