Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge Receives Field Trip Grant From The National Park Foundation

Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge Receives Field Trip Grant From The National Park Foundation

Boynton Beach, FL (March 21, 2015) – Arthur R. Marshall National Wildlife Refuge is one of 186 federal sites selected to receive a 2015 field trip grant from the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks. The Refuge will use the funding to bring Palm Beach County school children on field trips to the Everglades.

This grant, part of the Foundation’s Open OutDoors for Kids program, supports the White House youth initiative Every Kid in a Park.

“It is inspiring to see the National Park Foundation and many other partners step up to support our goal of getting fourth graders and their families into parks, public lands and waters that belong to all Americans,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “These generous grants will ensure children across the country have an opportunity to experience the great outdoors in their community while developing a lifelong connection to our nation’s land, water and wildlife.”

National Park Foundation grants have made it possible for more than 400,000 students (including this year’s grantees) to visit national parks and other public lands and waters.

“We want to help people everywhere, from all backgrounds, discover how national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other public lands and waters are relevant to their lives, and the best way to do that is to give people the opportunity to experience them first-hand,” said Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation. “Through our grants that provide funding for transportation and in-park learning, we are able to connect youth and their families to these special places and inspire people across the country to find their park which, in turn, can foster a lifelong connection to all that public lands and waters have to offer.”

Many teachers in Palm Beach County plan class field experiences to areas like Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge but have to cancel due to a limited field experiences budget and bus availability. Especially as the school year progresses, it becomes even harder to get kids out of the classroom. With this grant, the Refuge will work with partners to supplement Everglades specific field experiences by covering the transportation costs for Palm Beach County fourth-grade school groups.

“South Florida has some of the largest and most diverse school systems in the country and happens to border the largest, most iconic wetland ecosystem in the United States,” says Refuge Ranger Joseph Whelan. “It would be a disservice for kids to go through their entire school career and never be introduced to the Everglades, especially when it is right in their backyard.”

For the full list of grantees, and their projects, visit www.nationalparks.org/everykidinapark.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION

The National Park Foundation is the official charity of America’s national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service.  Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help PROTECT more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts, CONNECT all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture and rich history, and INSPIRE the next generation of park stewards.  Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org.