Six Florida state parks have been awarded funding

TALLAHASSEE, FL, UNITED STATES, May 11, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Six Florida state parks have been awarded funding under a small-grants program launched this year by the Florida State Parks Foundation.

“The program offers grants up to $5,000 for a wide range of park projects that otherwise might not get funded,” said Foundation President Gil Ziffer.

“This is a new initiative by the Foundation, and we were impressed by the diversity of projects being undertaken by Friends groups around the state. The number of applications also surprised us so the Foundation may have to consider raising the $25,000 cap on this program,” he said.

This year’s grant recipients are Friends of Pensacola State Parks, awarded $5,000 to replace 4 20-year-old golf carts used by campground hosts and other volunteers in performing their daily duties.

Friends of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Farm, in Micanopy, near Gainesville, received $1,500 to replace citrus trees in the groves planted by Rawlings in the 1920s to help finance her writing.

The citizens' support organization for the Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park was awarded $3,500 to plant native grasses in the medians in the picnic and parking areas.

Friends of Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, in Okeechobee, will use their $5,000 grant to install interpretive panels in several areas of the park, including the new Dark Sky viewing area where people can observe night skies without artificial light distractions.

Friends of Koreshan State Park in Estero, near Cape Coral, received $4,450 for an educational exhibit to display the historic value of the park and the Koreshan Unity Settlement, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The exhibit will allow visitors to take self-guided tours of the area.

The final grant of $3,433 was awarded to Friends of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and Dagny Johnson Hammock Botanical State Park, Key Largo, for six benches that will be painted with realistic decorative images of flora and fauna native to the park, by noted local artist Tere Kelly.

The Florida State Parks Foundation, founded in 1993 as Friends of Florida State Parks and renamed in 2018, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation whose mission is to support and help sustain the Florida Park Service, its 175 award-winning parks and trails, local Friends groups and more than 20,000 park volunteers.

It does this through programs that preserve and protect state parks, educate visitors about the value of state parks, encourage community engagement and active use of state parks, and advocacy.

The volunteer Board of Directors represents private and public sectors as well as local and statewide interests.

Julia Gill Woodward
Florida State Parks Foundation
+ 18505598914
email us here

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