Press Releases
ALEXANDRIA, VA (May 13, 2009) – The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) today announced it has awarded five new education grants to youth-focused boating, fishing and conservation organizations across the country. Selected from a pool of 70 applicants, the grants were awarded to build on RBFF’s boating and fishing education outreach efforts.
“We were impressed with the high caliber of applicants we received this year,” said RBFF Education Task Force Chairman Charles Holmes. “The Education Task Force is excited about getting kids and their families out boating and fishing with these wonderful organizations.”
“We believe that the best way to get kids and their families hooked on boating and fishing is to get them out on the water doing just that,” said RBFF President and CEO Frank Peterson. “We’re thrilled about all the great hands-on activities that our 2009 grant recipients are offering and look forward to working with them to put more than 140,000 kids through our education programs this year.”
The 2009 National Youth Fishing & Boating Initiative grant recipients include:
- FishHer – Fishing Gear for Women – educates and empowers girls who are actively involved in the Girl Scouts of the USA, and are new to the sport of fishing, boating and aquatic education. FishHer will expand its Go Fish Girls! Girl Scout Fishing Participation Patch Program, which was offered initially to the Nebraska Girl Scouts as a pilot program, to five additional states including Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and North Carolina.
- International Game Fish Association (IGFA) – provides students and teachers with a variety of activities including fishing clinics, live touch tank demonstrations, safe boating practices, casting, rigging and knot-tying demonstrations. IGFA will firmly establish its Outreach Education Program in Florida with a goal of expanding to other states in the upcoming years.
- Let’s Go Fishing (LGF) – enriches the lives of individuals 55 and older through free fishing and boating excursions that build relationships and create memories. LGF will introduce youth ages 5 – 18 to fishing through education programs and guided fishing tours with seniors as part of its Intergenerational Fishing program.
- National Recreation & Park Association (NRPA) – brings resources to local communities through its park and recreation facilities across the country to ensure the future for active, healthy youth engaged in sport and the outdoors. NRPA will expand its Take Me Fishing™ Initiative that builds and sustains fishing and boating programs with a focus on conservation.
- Trout Unlimited (TU) – works to conserve, protect and restore North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. TU will develop a pilot program that integrates a fishing curriculum, training workshops, fishing gear and field trips into its Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program in the tri-state region of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. TIC teaches students how to raise trout in classroom tanks and release them into the wild.
A key requirement of RBFF’s National Youth Fishing & Boating Initiative, which awards education grants annually, includes introducing boating and fishing to minorities and underserved communities. Special consideration is given to programs that offer multiple on-the-water learning opportunities, encourage long-term involvement of participants, provide training for instructors, promote conservation and support existing RBFF partnerships. Since 2007, more than 250,000 kids have participated in RBFF’s aquatic education programs.
For more information about RBFF’s education grant opportunities, visit RBFF.org.
About RBFF
RBFF is a nonprofit organization established in 1998 to increase participation in recreational angling and boating. RBFF helps people discover, share and protect the legacy of boating and fishing through national outreach programs including the Take Me Fishing™ campaign and Anglers’ Legacy™.
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