National Park Trust Applauds Obama's "Every Kid in a Park" Initiative; Program Dovetails with NPT's Kids to Parks Day, May 16, 2015

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Feb 19, 2015, 05:51 ET

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President Obama today launched the 'Every Kid in a Park' initiative, providing all fourth-grade students and their families with free admission to National Parks and other federal lands and waters for a full year. National Park Trust applauds this initiative as it is perfectly aligned with its mission to 'preserve parks today and create parks stewards for tomorrow.'

"NPT is confident that the 'Every Kid in a Park' initiative will encourage an unprecedented number of kids and families to sign up for Kids to Parks Day on May 16, 2015. Providing free access to parks and an opportunity to apply for transportation funding will take away the biggest barrier of access to parks for families and schools," said Grace Lee, executive director, National Park Trust. "This is an important initiative and a perfect way to prepare for the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016."

Five years ago, National Park Trust launched Kids to Parks Day, a national day of play that takes place the Saturday before Memorial Day every year. Last year, all 50 states and Washington, D.C. participated in Kids to Parks Day. NPT's website, www.parktrust.org, will list all participating park events across the country and provides free downloadable activity guides for families to use year-round. NPT anticipates that more than 1,500 park events will be hosted across the country.

ABOUT NATIONAL PARK TRUST

National Park Trust is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving parks today and creating park stewards for tomorrow. As people spend more time indoors and as successive generations grow up with less of a connection to nature, NPT wants to build a greater awareness and appreciation for the importance of our country's public lands and parks. To learn more about our work visit www.parktrust.org.

SOURCE National Park Trust