News

National Park Trust and USDA Forest Service Announce the 2023 Every Kid Outdoors Small Grants Program Awardees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 2, 2023

32 Grants Awarded Will Get More Than 22,000 Kids Outside

Washington, DC (February 2, 2023) – The National Park Trust is pleased to announce the 2023 grantees of the Every Kid Outdoors Small Grants Program. In partnership with the USDA Forest Service, the National Park Trust developed the Every Kid Outdoors grant to support schools and organizations focused on connecting elementary school-aged youth to public parks, lands, and waters.

For over a decade, National Park Trust has been a leader in youth outdoor programming and has been actively addressing the lack of transportation to outdoor spaces – one of the most significant barriers to kids getting outside and experiencing nature. This grant supports the Every Kid Outdoors program, a federal youth initiative designed to provide every 4th grader in the United States the opportunity to visit public lands and waters for free with their families. The great outdoors is an excellent classroom, and the Park Trust and the USDA Forest Service are partnering to provide the experiences that will help kids establish lifelong connections with nature and become the next generation of park stewards.

“We are delighted to expand our partnership with the USDA Forest Service by providing numerous nonprofits and schools across the country with Every Kid Outdoors Transportation Grants. These critical resources will allow thousands of children from under-served communities to discover our public lands and waters. For many of these students, it will be their first opportunity to explore the great outdoors.”

Grace Lee, executive director of National Park Trust

“The USDA Forest Service believes every kid should have access to nature – whether it be a community park or a National Forest. We are so proud to partner with the National Park Trust to provide families and school groups across the country with access to outdoor adventures.”

Melissa Taggart, Environmental Education Specialist at the USDA Forest Service

This program was made available to 501c3 non–profit organizations and schools from all over the United States looking for resources and funding to connect their community’s elementary school-aged kids with local parks, public lands, and waters. For 2023, the Park Trust and USDA Forest Service awarded 33 grants to qualified applicants – totaling $135,000. Learn more about these schools and organizations below.

2023 Every Kid Outdoors Transportations Grants Program Recipients:

  • African Community Housing and Development – SeaTac, WA
  • Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests – Hilo, HI
  • Alachua Conservation Trust – Gainesville, FL
  • Anacostia Watershed Society, Inc. – Bladensburg, MD
  • Arizona Natural History Association – Flagstaff, AZ
  • Black Hills Parks and Forest Association – Hot Springs, SD
  • Black Outside, Inc. – San Antonio, TX
  • Coral Restoration Foundation – Tavernier, FL
  • Craters of the Moon National Monument History Association – Arco, ID
  • Dan River Basin Association – Eden, NC
  • Eastern National Forests Interpretive Association – Oscoda, MI
  • Friends of Great Salt Lake – Salt Lake City, UT
  • Friends of the Campbell Creek Science Center – Anchorage, AK
  • Friends of Tioga, Hammond and Cowanesque Lakes – Wellsboro, PA
  • Fundacion Amigos de El Yunque, Inc. – San Juan, PR
  • Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and Blind – Gooding, ID
  • Latin American Montessori Bilingual Public Charter School– Washington, DC
  • Living Classrooms Foundation – Baltimore, MD
  • Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group – White Salmon, WA
  • Mount St. Helens Institute – Amboy, WA
  • Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust – Seattle, WA
  • National Indian Youth Leadership Project – Albuquerque, NM
  • Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy – Rolling Hills Estates, CA
  • Public Lands Interpretive Association – Albuquerque, NM
  • Refugee Education and Adventure Challenge (REACH) – Oak Park, IL
  • Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists – Tucson, AZ
  • Save the Harbor/Save the Bay – Boston, MA
  • See You At The Top – Cleveland, OH
  • Shelbyville CUSD 4 – Shelbyville, IL
  • Southwestern NC Resource Conservation & Development Council – Waynesville, NC
  • The Fort Sumter-Fort Moultrie Historical Trust – Charleston, SC
  • Winter Wildlands Alliance – Boise, ID

ABOUT NATIONAL PARK TRUST

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023, National Park Trust’s mission is to preserve parks today and create park stewards for tomorrow. Since 1983, the Park Trust has acquired many of the missing pieces of our national parks, benefiting 51 national park sites. Our national youth education and family initiatives, including our Buddy Bison Programs and National Kids to Parks Day, serve 300 Title I schools annually and cultivate future park stewards. We believe that our public parks, lands, and waters should be cared for, enjoyed by, and preserved by all for current and future generations. Find out more at parktrust.org.

To learn more about Every Kid Outdoors, please visit https://everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ivan Levin at 540.818.5818 or ivan@parktrust.org.