MONROE COUNTY, Fla. — Borrowing from the classic Christmas carol, O Christmas Tree, Publix Super Markets partnered with military veterans from FORCE BLUE to plant coral trees in the Florida Keys.

‘O coral trees, o coral trees, how lovely are your branches’ is the theme of this project, which focuses on rehabilitating the coral population.

“It is a great honor for our company to be able to support such an important local project aimed at conserving and restoring coral reefs,” said Publix Director of Environmental and Sustainability Programs Paul Osley. “With the help of FORCE BLUE and local scientists with Mote and I.CARE, this coral field nursery will help rebuild these important habitats.”

The Publix Coral Nursery consists of 25 tree-like structures anchored to the ocean floor with buoys attached to keep them upright. Like ornaments, coral fragments are hung from the tree branches, allowing them the opportunity to grow freely and adapt to ocean conditions. Publix support associates in Lakeland, Florida built the trees and the Publix Good Together truck transported them to the Florida Keys. From there, FORCE BLUE and local scientists handled the installation. Once the coral fragments grow into larger corals, they will be transplanted to existing coral reefs to help rehabilitate the coral population.

Funding for the Publix Coral Nursery was made possible through associate and customer donations to the Good Together environmental campaign. The campaign has supported FORCE BLUE since 2024, and has been instrumental in helping the nonprofit complete various marine debris removal and coastal conservation projects across Florida.

FORCE BLUE is the only organization in the world that retrains and redeploys former Special Operations veterans and military-trained combat divers to work alongside scientists, environmental agencies and community leaders on marine conservation missions.

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