Letha's Youth Outdoors Fund Grant

Letha's Youth Outdoors Fund Grant provides financial support for field trips that connect youth groups in Indiana with nature. Ideal for educators, this grant fosters outdoor learning experiences, emphasizing the importance of native plants and their habitats. Grants range from $50 to $700, covering transport and educational activities.

NOTE: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and grants are awarded to appropriate projects as long as funds are available. Applications should be submitted at least one month prior to the proposed trip.
INPS Grants
INPS supports well-conceived grant projects that are in line with our mission:
Letha’s 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.
Letha’s Fund Application Guidelines
Proposed field trips should be designed to give youth a meaningful outdoor experience. Programs that incorporate the importance of native plants and their habitats and/or the impacts of invasive plants will be given higher priority.
Teachers/leaders may select natural sites such as nature preserves and environmental education centers suitable to their location and situation. To minimize transportation costs, applicants are encouraged to select nearby sites.
Field trip activities should be led by environmental educators/naturalists or similarly qualified leaders.
Grants cover the costs of transportation, naturalist fees, and related supplies. Letha’s Fund will reimburse transportation arranged through school transportation systems or local transit. In the interest of stretching donated dollars, we request that driver/bus charges be based on direct costs (driver hourly pay, bus mileage).
Approved expenses are reimbursed upon receipt of invoices after the trip has occurred. Awards range from $50 to $700, based on need and available funds.

Eligibility

Who can apply: Any teacher or youth group leader in Indiana. What we fund:Transportation, naturalist fees, and other costs for field trips to stimulating natural sites.

Ineligibility

We do not fund picnics, food, or chaperone fees.Grant applications for projects such as native plant gardens at schools should be submitted to the INPS Biodiversity Grant program and not to Letha’s Fund.