A campaign organized by the Outdoor Industry Association and Outdoor Foundation is aimed at bringing more kids into the national parks.

A program organized around the businesses and companies that outfit and guide your national park adventures is working to get more fourth-grade students into the parks this year. 

The Outdoor Foundation and Outdoor Industry Association is behind Parks4Kids, a major campaign that leverages the latest in crowd-funding technology to allow companies large and small in the outdoor industry and other sectors to raise money to fund local projects that connect young people with the country’s national parks. To kick-off the campaign, OIA and Outdoor Foundation pledged $250,000 – giving school and nonprofit partners a boost to their fundraising efforts and challenging others to join the effort.

In celebration of the National Park Centennial, the campaign supports the ‘Every Kid in a Park’ initiative, which was announced by the White House last year and has the goal of providing an opportunity for every 4th grade student in the country to visit a national park or one of 2,000 federally managed lands and waters nationwide.

The Foundation and Association’s campaign goal is to connect tens of thousands of kids with meaningful park experiences – leading to ongoing outdoor activities and ultimately a nation of outdoor enthusiasts. On average, it costs only $10 per student to visit a national park or other federal public lands, yet many schools don’t have the financial resources to ensure that every fourth-grader has a valuable park experience. At the same time, there are many potential outdoor industry donors that would like to get involved in the Centennial and support specific park experiences in the communities in which they operate. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been an easy way to connect these supporters and local schools – until now.

“This program is unique because it recognizes that our industry is comprised of brands and retailers, large and small, who have varying resources but are united by wanting to support kids, families and schools in their local communities and in doing so increase participation in outdoor activities. Outdoor industry companies can bring this effort right into their local cities and towns by going online and sponsoring a field trip by their local 4th grade class. We hope everyone in the outdoor industry will donate to an individual or adopt a school and help every single 4th grader in America have a national park experience,” said Amy Roberts, executive director of Outdoor Industry Association.

Created by schools or their nonprofit partners, the online project profiles will include photographs, park experience descriptions, park location, number of youth reached and fundraising goal. With a few clicks, funders can give $1 or $100,000 to the project(s) that most inspires them.

When a project reaches its funding objective, the Outdoor Foundation will release the funds to the school or nonprofit partner—connecting a nation of 4th graders with valuable park experiences.

OIA and the Foundation will work with industry donors to ensure that brands and retailers are able to maximize their charitable contribution. Once a donation is made, the Foundation will connect the company with the supported school and/or nonprofit partner to help build the local relationship.