Connect Grants for Diverse Communities

With help from REI last year, Leave No Trace introduced a very important new program called “Connect Grants.” The program was constructed to provide grants that diversified Leave No Trace educational efforts and increased the pool of leaders/educators serving a wider cross-section of Americans.

The Connect Grants program made some important inroads in our ability to reach out to communities that we did not traditionally and directly serve. Seven grants were awarded to extraordinary people and organizations across the country. A few highlights included Leave No Trace resources for: 1. an after school outdoor program called Identity serving at-risk Latino youth in Gaithersburg, Maryland; 2. work with Boys and Girls Clubs in Nevada and Virginia 3. resources for Los Angeles Latino high schoolers involved with outdoor stewardship work.

This year, we’re expanding the Connect Grants program. If you are a good candidate for a Connect Grant or if you know someone or an organization that is, look for 2008 information in late February at LNT.org.