Washington State Parks Foundation

CONNECT: BUILDING AN ENGAGED AND INFORMED STATE PARKS COMMUNITY. Critical to our mission is building a parks community and connecting people, particularly underserved communities, to shared experiences in nature, history and culture. We supported programs to help prepare first-time visitors, supported underserved communities to help them better access state parks and increased coordination with the state parks agency to align and deepen communications with a wider range of groups to make parks more welcoming to all. We reached out to over 200,000 park users and more than 12,400 donors who acted on behalf of our mission to give to, advocate for and treasure our state parks.

Other Program Services Other services include organizational capacity building for Friends of State Parks and advocacy work with partners and the public.

WELCOMING FOR ALL: CONNECTING PEOPLE AND CELEBRATING THEIR DIVERSE TRADITIONS AT STATE PARKS. This program's purpose is to help State Parks realize its mission and vision that parks connect all Washingtonians to their diverse natural and cultural heritage and ensure parks are "cherished destinations with natural, cultural, recreational, artistic, and interpretive experiences." With our support, over 7,075 individuals and families in communities across Washington were able to access state parks using free provided access passes and resources such as field guides and binoculars included in "adventure packs." In addition, we expanded access to disabled communities via adaptive playground equipment, a track chair and a trail guide for disabled people.