Engaging future park stewards in Los Angeles: Our leading champion and chair of Pathways to Parks, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, spent time with us visiting California state parks, meeting with partners, and learning more about impactful programming working to improve the health and wellness of California’s youth. It was a day of learning and listening to the trailblazers making equitable access to our public lands a reality for all Californians. Read about the day and the incredible partners that came together for the future of parks at calparks.org/LAday. 

Meeting immediate park needs for Earth Day 2020: Due to COVID-19, we shifted resources and redirected $75,000 in Earth Day funds to help address immediate needs in parks. Grant funding was directed to California state parks and partner groups stretching from north to south and serving both urban and rural families, with the goal of helping parks address new safety needs, distance learning, and ongoing maintenance needs for trails and facilities. For a list of all the projects, read our blog at calparks.org/earthdaygrantees. 

Launching our Keeping Parks Whole grant round amid COVID-19: Park closures due to COVID-19 resulted in massive revenue loss for state parks. With your help, to support California’s state parks and park partner organizations, we created a grant round to ensure parks were supported during the initial adjustment to the pandemic. The Keeping Parks Whole grant round gave $100,000 in funding to support needs such as staff positions, park maintenance, and park programs. For more detail on the grant round, visit our blog at calparks.org/keepingparkswhole. 

Hosting the Pathways to Parks Policy Forum: The event brought together a cross-section of state leaders and advocates to discuss the status of children’s health in California today and develop solutions to leverage California’s state parks as a tool to improve youth health, especially for those in underserved communities. To learn more about the speakers and panels, read the full recap on our blog at calparks.org/forum. 

Protecting and preserving state parks through volunteerism: With your help, we held over 100 volunteer work days throughout the year to benefit more than 40 parks across California. Over 1,000 volunteers contributed over 8,000 hours to make improvements to our parks. From Candlestick Point State Recreation Area to Border Field State Park, you helped protect these priceless resources now and for generations to come. To read a full overview of volunteer projects in parks the last year, read our blog at calparks.org/volunteers2020.