Friends Receives $36,400 Grant from the National Park Foundation
Friends was approved for a 2024 National Park Foundation ParkVentures Grant to continue building sustainable relationships and accessible recreation with historically excluded communities at Saguaro National Park through the Hiking Club Program.
Saguaro National Park has recently completed a comprehensive strategic plan for community outreach and engagement. The plan identifies Low-Income, Latino, Indigenous, and Disabled as the four most historically excluded communities and provides sustainable approaches to create genuine relationships that are meaningful, collaborative, mutually beneficial, and long-lasting. The plan will be operationalized in two ways, through community outreach and engagement events, and through the Hiking Club Program.
Funds will be used to support and expand the Hiking Club Program at Saguaro National Park. Friends has funded the
program for more than twenty years. It has been highly effective, efficient, and equitable in creating sustainable relationships with historically excluded communities and removing barriers to place-based recreational experiences at Saguaro National Park. Currently, Friends is funding twelve hiking clubs at local Title 1 schools and providing transportation reimbursements. The clubs consist of two club leaders and sixteen students at each school who hike in the park every month. The program is organized by Environmental Education Park staff and Next Generation Ranger interns.The Hiking Club Program has helped Saguaro National Park build sustainable relationships and accessible recreation with historically excluded communities in southern Arizona. Support from the National Park Foundation will support the expansion of this vital program and allow the park and Friends to further our important collaborative work and create a more equitable and inclusive community for future generations.