Letha’s Youth Outdoors Fund supports trips for school and youth groups to experience nature in an educational context. Preferred groups are those with the least access to experiences in the natural environment.
Bringing Youth to Nature
Since its inception in 2008, Letha’s Fund has enabled more than 15,000 youth to visit environmental education centers, nature preserves, and parks under the guidance of trained specialists and enthusiastic volunteers. We have awarded funding to not just school groups, but also non-profit groups, including a group in Gary that took inner city children to visit the Indiana Dunes for the first time.
The Fund has also supported projects such as a Girl Scout troop’s garlic mustard eradication project, the development of native plantings at schools, the planting and support of a butterfly garden for kindergarteners at a community center, and an experience in the woods for handicapped youth.
With drastically reduced funding for schools over the years, Letha’s Fund now focuses on funding field trips to increase the number of youth served.
Grant applications for projects such as native plant gardens at schools should be submitted to the Biodiversity Grant program and not to Letha’s Fund.
Apply to Letha’s Youth Outdoors Fund
Kids initiated a garlic mustard pull with the help of Letha’s Fund
Support Letha’s Fund
We invite you to consider a generous donation to Letha’s Fund to help spark the love of the natural world in our youth.
It’s quick and easy to donate online. Simply designate Letha’s Fund as the recipient here:
If you prefer to donate via land mail, mail a check to: Indiana Native Plant Society, Attn: Letha’s Fund, PO Box 501528, Indianapolis, IN 46250. In the memo line of your check, designate it for “Letha’s Fund.”
