friends of ballona wetlands [ca]
2020 giving while living regional grant: $2,500

The Foundation’s timely $2,500 Regional Grant, which arrived at the onset of the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, helped Friends of Ballona Wetlands (Playa del Rey, CA) expand their programs to reach an online audience. They quickly established a virtual presence through Ballona@Home, where teachers, parents, and youth at all grade levels access a variety of virtual lessons. The Friends also welcomed virtual campers to Ballona Discovery Nature Camp @ Home. They designed online collateral for three weekly themes: Summit to Sea; Nature Skills; and Superheroes of Nature. Digital camp elements include a Discovery Video posted daily (M-F), exploring the topic of the day either through a tour of a Ballona Wetland area or a deep dive into the special adaptations of local wildlife. The virtual program also provides a Digital Camp Journal that accompanies the daily videos and can be printed for use at home.

The Friends also continued their critical work with the Wetlands Restoration Principles Coalition, resulting in public education efforts that help broadcast the critical need for environmental protection. An additional priority for the past several years has been educational programming, which they deliver under the banner Explore Ballona! During the past year, they increased school outreach, particularly those with Title 1 status (California schools receiving federal funding to meet the educational needs of students in under-served communities). Additional outreach to youth-serving agencies helped the Friends ensure that students from throughout the Los Angeles region can benefit from the experiential learning provided on-site. As a result of that outreach, participation by under-served public schools increased by 65%, and youth-serving agencies now represent 34% of the groups who visited the wetlands and participated in their educational activities.

Thank you to Adam Fox, who works for Woodard & Curran, Inc. in Seattle, WA, for nominating Friends of Ballona Wetlands for a Foundation Giving While Living Regional Grant.