Treecause
Everything changed.
Dawne's death left a space that could not be filled and a grief that had nowhere obvious to go.
Our story
From grief, we chose growth.
DIG did not begin as a business idea. It began with a death, a family carrying an impossible loss, and a simple need to put something living back into the world.
One tree became a place for memory. Planting became a passion. That passion became a mission: grow life from loss, restore what we can, and invite other people to leave something living behind too.
Love deserves roots.
What began in memory of Dawne became a commitment to create life, shade, habitat, and hope for people we may never meet.
We planted something living.
A shovel, soil, and a native tree turned remembrance into a physical act of care.
One tree changed us.
Planting did not erase loss. It gave love somewhere to keep moving and gave us work worth doing.
The idea grew beyond us.
What started as a family act became a mission other families, communities, schools, businesses, and dealerships could join.
The journey
We could not change the death. We could choose what came after it.
DIG is the story of what happened when grief stopped being only something we carried and became something we could put to work.
01
The day life divided into before and after.
When Dawne died, there was no slogan, campaign, or plan waiting on the other side. There was a family trying to understand how someone so central to their lives could suddenly be gone. Grief was not abstract. It occupied the rooms, the memories, the routines, and the future we thought we knew.
02
Then we picked up a shovel.
Planting a tree was not an answer to death. It was an answer to what to do with love after death. Putting roots into the earth made remembrance physical. There was soil to move, a tree to steady, water to carry, and something alive that would need care tomorrow.
03
The work became part of the healing.
We discovered that planting asks you to look forward. You plant for shade you may not sit beneath, for wildlife you may never see, and for people who may never know your name. That long horizon changed the way we looked at grief. The loss remained, but now it could produce care instead of only absence.
04
Passion became responsibility.
One planting led to another. Neighbors joined in. The idea became larger than one family and one memorial tree. We began asking a bigger question: what if a personal act of remembrance could become a repeatable act of restoration?
05
That question became DIG.
DIG exists to make it easier for other people to do something tangible: plant in memory of someone, create shade for a family, restore a school or neighborhood, sponsor trees through a business, or turn an everyday action into something that keeps growing after the moment is gone.
Why her name still matters
Dawne is part of every root.
This work began because Dawne mattered. Her death is part of the story, but it is not the end of her influence. Every time we choose growth over indifference, every time a family puts a memorial tree into the earth, and every time a community creates new canopy, the original promise continues.
We do not plant because a tree can replace a person. It cannot. We plant because love can still create something after loss. A tree gives that love a future tense.
“We could not bring a life back. But we could spend the rest of ours putting life back into the world.”
Why trees
Because a tree turns memory into responsibility.
Trees are not symbols only. They require care, occupy real ground, improve real places, and keep asking something of us long after planting day.
01
They make remembrance living.
A memorial tree changes through seasons and years. It becomes a place to return to rather than a memory that exists only in the past.
02
They create something beyond us.
Shade, habitat, cleaner air, stronger soil, and greener neighborhoods make one personal act useful to people and wildlife far outside the original story.
03
They force us to think forward.
A newly planted tree is a promise to a future we cannot fully see. That is exactly why planting became the right language for this mission.
How the mission keeps growing
The story began with us. It was never meant to stay only ours.
Today the same idea can meet people wherever they are: in grief, at home, in a schoolyard, inside a business, or even during a test drive.
Remember
Memorial & Tribute Trees
Give love and loss a living place by planting in honor of someone whose story still matters.
Explore memorial planting → RestoreFamily & Home Planting
Put a native tree where everyday life happens and create shade, habitat, and canopy for the years ahead.
Plant a tree → GatherCommunity Projects
Bring neighbors, schools, parks, and local partners together around visible restoration work.
Host a project → MultiplyBusiness & Dealership Programs
Let organizations turn customer participation into sponsored trees and help the mission reach people we could never reach alone.
See partnership programs →What we believe now
Making a difference does not have to begin with something big.
DIG began with one family, one loss, one shovel, and one tree. That scale still matters to us. The mission grows one real action at a time.
Grief can become care.
Not because pain disappears, but because love can still be directed toward something constructive.
Small actions can have long lives.
A few minutes of planting can begin decades of shade, habitat, memory, and community benefit.
Impact should be tangible.
We believe in real trees, real ground, clear stewardship, and stories connected to actions people can understand.
The future is something we participate in.
We may not control what happens to us. We can still choose what we put into the world afterward.
From one death, a commitment to life.
Help us keep putting life back into the world.
Plant for someone you miss. Plant for people you love. Plant for a neighborhood, a customer, a child, or a future you will never personally see. Just leave something growing.
DIG Foundation • Do your part. Plant a Tree.