T3 grants for high school outing clubs available for fifth year

Teens to Trails, commonly known as T3, has recently announced that they will be offering grants to Maine high school outing clubs for the fifth consecutive year through their Grants-to-Clubs program.
Since 2008, T3 has awarded more than 50 small grants to outing clubs to help get teens active in the outdoors. The 2012 program is made possible by the many hardworking T3 volunteers and a grant from The Davis Conservation Foundation and the generosity of L.L.Bean.

Photo courtesy of Teens to Trails
The outing club of Portland High School was one of the 11 high school outing clubs to receive a grant from Teens To Trails in 2011.

This year, the Grants-to-Clubs program is open to any high school outing club in Maine that completes the online application at www.teenstotrails.org/grants-clubs-program by midnight Dec. 1. Through the program, select outing clubs will receive funds to help with costs such as transportation, outdoor gear, or safety & skills training for leaders. Grants are awarded up to $500.

“High school outing clubs are the most effective way we have found for engaging teens in their natural world, making safe outdoor experiences accessible to every student in the State,” said Carol Leone, founder of Teens To Trails, in a recent press release. “A growing body of research shows that unstructured time outdoors is critical to the health and well being of our young people.”

Photo courtesy of Teens to Trails
The Dirigo Outing Club stands on the top of Mount Blue during 2011-2012 winter. The club received a grant from Teens to Trails that year to help with transportation and equipment costs.

“Life was not meant to be a spectator sport,” Leone continued. “It is our goal to establish an outing club in every one of Maine’s high schools, and this Grants-to-Clubs program will help outing clubs get off the ground and become sustainable and customary school offerings.”

T3 is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the opportunities for Maine teens to experience the outdoors through a variety of programs that promote and support high school outing clubs. Their chief goal is to spread outing clubs across the state.

Eleven outing clubs received assistance last year: Biddeford High School, Cony High School, Deer Isle-Stonington High School, Deering High School, Dirigo High School, Maine Central Institute, Maine School of Science & Mathematics, Portland High School, South Portland High School, The New School and Thornton Academy.

They posted Flickr photos from their many outdoor adventures.

For information on the Grants-to-Clubs program, Teens To Trails and outing clubs, visit www.TeensToTrails.org

Aislinn Sarnacki

About Aislinn Sarnacki

Aislinn is a Bangor Daily News reporter for the Outdoors pages, focusing on outdoor recreation and Maine wildlife. Visit her main blog at actoutwithaislinn.bangordailynews.com.