With a recently awarded grant of $35,000 from the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation, Ottawa County Parks & Recreation is excited to expand nature education in the following ways:
Permanent Virtual Programming
During the pandemic, Parks staff began to create virtual programming (while the Nature Center and other facilities were closed due to COVID) and found significant demand for this resource.
Pilot “Parks for All” Initiative
We believe it is vital for students to attend a parks program at least once in their school career. Our long-term “Parks for All” goal is to fully fund the cost for every fourth-grade student within the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District to attend one program annually.
Before we further develop this initiative, we will conduct a pilot program to fund transportation and program costs for 1,000 fourth graders in northern Ottawa County in 2022.
Generous donors who have contributed to the Emilie Baker Fund for the Environment, GHACF Environment Fund, Mary Ann Sherwood Families & Children Fund, and the William T. and Shirley A. Baker Family Fund at the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation made this funding available to benefit the community.
