April Thomas, 206.321.3850, contact@outdoorsallianceforkids.org
Washington, DC -- Yesterday, eight military kids and their families delivered postcards from over 1,000 fourth-graders across the nation to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Many of the postcards were hand-signed by children who have participated in the Every Kid in a Park program, which allows every child in the United States to visit their national parks for free in their fourth-grade year. The visit and postcard delivery was organized by National Park Trust and Blue Star Families.
The Outdoors Alliance for Kids also delivered 14,000 public comments asking the Interior Department to continue the Every Kid in a Park program, which is scheduled to sunset at the end of the 2017-18 school year unless the Secretary takes administrative action to continue it.
In response, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids Founder and Chair Jackie Ostfeld released the following statement:
“Thanks to the Every Kid in a Park program, every fourth grader in the United States has the chance to visit our nation’s treasured national parks and public lands. This highly successful program is ensuring more kids have a chance to connect with nature. That’s why over one thousand children, including many who have benefited from Every Kid in a Park directly, wrote Secretary Zinke a postcard about the value of spending time outdoors. I hope he will listen closely to their stories about the powerful impact that getting outdoors can have in a young person’s life, and act to continue the Every Kid in a Park program.”
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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 to address the growing divide between children, youth, and the outdoors.
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.