Contact: April Thomas, 206.321.3850, april.thomas@sierraclub.org
Washington, D.C.– Today, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids and other organizations sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke asking him to protect a program called Every Kid in a Park. Reports indicate that the program is in jeopardy, so organizations are speaking out. Every Kid in a Park allows every fourth grader in the U.S. to visit their national parks. Since the program began, millions of 4th graders have downloaded their park pass voucher and visited a national park, many for the first time.
“Ending the Every Kid in a Park program would deny fourth graders the opportunity and encouragement to visit a national park, which would be a big loss for kids and families across the nation,” said Jackie Ostfeld, Director of Sierra Club Outdoors and Chair of the Outdoors Alliance for Kids. “The Every Kid in a Park program is a low-cost and popular public-private partnership that helps boost local economies while improving children’s health and connections to nature. Millions in private funding have been leveraged to support transportation costs for children from low-income schools across the United States. It would be a big mistake to cancel such a successful program, when today’s children are spending less time outdoors than during any other time in U.S. history.”
Signers of the letter include the American Heart Association, Girl Scouts of the USA, Hip Hop Caucus, Greenpeace USA, Latino Outdoors, GirlTrek, the National Parks Conservation Association, REI and the YMCA.
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About the Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK): OAK is a national strategic partnership of organizations from diverse sectors with a common interest in connecting children, youth and families with the outdoors. The members of OAK are brought together by the belief that the wellness of current and future generations, the health of our planet and communities and the economy of the future depend on humans having a personal, direct and life-long relationship with nature and the outdoors. OAK brings together nearly 100 businesses and organizations, representing more than 60 million individuals to address the growing divide between children, youth and the natural world. For more information: www.outdoorsallianceforkids.org
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.