State Offers Grants for Outdoor Education, Recreation

Posted December 17, 2015 at 5:34 am by

RCOLogoOLYMPIA – The State today begins accepting applications for the No Child Left Inside program, which is aimed at giving at-risk children outdoor experiences.

The No Child Left Inside grant program is funded by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and administered by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO). The grants are intended to fund programs that provide outdoor environmental, agricultural or other natural resource-based education and recreation programs serving youth in Washington State.

“Research shows that getting kids outdoors improves their lives,”

 

Applicants can be public agencies, (cities, counties, special purpose districts), Native American tribes, nonprofit organizations, formal school programs, informal after school programs and community-based programs in Washington.

“Research shows that getting kids outdoors improves their lives,” said Don Hoch, director of Washington State Parks. “We’re excited about this grant program because we know that spending time outside reduces childhood stress and obesity and helps prevent the disengagement that many young people experience today. Outdoor education programs involving interaction with nature have been shown to improve children’s self-esteem, health, performance in school, personal responsibility and community involvement.”

Grant recipients may ask for as much as $125,000 for each program. The State expects to award about $900,000. Typical programs would be those that offer backpacking or camping, canoeing and kayaking, environmental outdoor education, fishing or hunting, hiking, orienteering or rock climbing.

“We expect the competition for this funding to be strong because people in Washington understand the value of spending time outdoors,” said Kaleen Cottingham, RCO director. “An advisory committee made up of people with expertise in outdoor education and recreation programs will evaluate and score the grant proposals to ensure a fair process and ensure that only the best projects receive funding.”

The Washington State Legislature provided funding for the grant program first in 2008, but the program ended during the recession when funding was no longer available. In 2015, State Parks requested and received funds from the Legislature to reinvigorate the program. Funding comes from the state General Fund.

To learn more about the grant program, visit RCO’s Web site.

To apply, visit www.rco.wa.gov/grants/apply_for_grant.shtml. Applications are due February 16 and grants will be awarded in April.

You can support the San Juan Update by doing business with our loyal advertisers, and by making a one-time contribution or a recurring donation.


Categories: Around Here

No comments yet. Be the first!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By submitting a comment you grant the San Juan Update a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate, irrelevant and contentious comments may not be published at an admin's discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.

Receive new post updates: Entries (RSS)
Receive followup comments updates: RSS 2.0