Since 1999, the Stewart L. Udall Parks in Focus® Program has been working to connect Tucson youth to our national parks and public lands through photography and outdoor learning. Today, the Udall Foundation partners with more than a dozen local schools and youth-serving organizations—including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Arizona, Owl and Panther, and others—to put cameras in the hands of youth and lead them on action-packed adventures ranging 30-minute afterschool activities to six-day camping trips in settings ranging from schoolyards and city parks to the Grand Canyon.
Western National Parks Association (WNPA) has been a proud supporter of Parks in Focus® for over a decade and has served its official nonprofit partner since 2016.
In late October, Parks in Focus® kicked off its 25th anniversary celebration with a beautiful event held at WNPA’s National Parks Store in Tucson. Nearly 100 partners, supporters, and community members attended the celebration which included an unveiling of our newest student photo exhibition, a retrospective photo display, a silent auction, and a short program featuring remarks from program participants, partners, and special guests including Udall Foundation Trustee Denis Udall, who is also the son of Stewart L. Udall. The students’ images will remain on display at the National Parks Store through December 31, 2023. They will then travel to the Tucson Botanical Gardens where they will be on display from January 6 through April 1, 2024.
You can also see the photos online here.
2023 has been an especially exciting year for Parks in Focus®. In June, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson recognized Parks in Focus® with its prestigious Youth Impact Award (read more here) which celebrates individuals and organizations who have made a consequential impact on Boys & Girls Club youth and families through innovative programming. Additionally, WNPA was awarded with a one-time $30,000 grant from the National Recreation Foundation—made possible by Tom’s of Maine—to help expand Parks in Focus® programming in the Tucson community in 2023. These funds helped to expand the scope and scale of activities offered to several existing Parks in Focus® partners as well as helped initiate new partnerships with the Jacobs YMCA, the John Valenzuela Youth Center, Marana Middle School, and others. To date, the National Recreation Foundation grant has helped Parks in Focus® reach more than 800 youth through more than 800 hours of on-the-ground programming in 2023.
Parks in Focus® hopes to sustain and build upon these new partnerships in the years ahead and recently launched a new fundraising initiative, which will continue into spring 2024 alongside the program’s 25th anniversary festivities, to help support this work beyond the National Recreation Foundation grant cycle.
Thanks in part to generous donors and partners including Western National Parks Association, Parks in Focus® activities are provided at no cost to youth participants and their families. Contributions to support Parks in Focus® can be made to either Western National Parks Association or the Udall Foundation. To learn more about how you can get involved and support the next generation of public lands visitors, leaders, and stewards, click here.
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Your generous gift of $75 or more provides you with a tax-deductible opportunity to make a meaningful impact. You can help support scientific research, promote recreational activities, foster community connections, and inspire the next generation of park stewards.
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By supporting WNPA, you are helping to empower parks for all time. Supporters like you help to make this important work possible.