Ozark Society Foundation (OSF) is launching the second year of its Youth Engagement Grant program to support Student Environmental Projects. Grant proposals will be accepted from nonprofit organizations in the Ozark or Ouachita areas that engage students in environmental awareness and conservation activities. Projects must be community-based and involve elementary or secondary students. Priority will be given to nonprofits who have experienced an interruption to their revenue stream due to the pandemic.

Up to ten project funding grants between $1,000 and $3,000 will be awarded based on the scope and needs of the student activity. OSF will accept applications from August 23 to October 16, 2021. Award notification and funds distribution will occur by December 2021. Projects will have one year to complete their objectives. Final grant reports will be due by Monday, November 28, 2022.

“Projects should actively engage students in conservation efforts that have tangible outcomes,” said Roslyn Imrie, OSF board member and student grants committee chair. “Our program will encourage hands-on learning, service learning, community projects and activism during the pandemic. We are not looking for programs focused on classroom lectures or simple outdoor orientation.”

In 2020, the OSF Youth Engagement Grant program awarded seven grants totaling $10,000 to regional programs. Funded projects in both urban and rural areas introduced activities for student-built gardens and greenhouses, interactive environmental education, community improvement, watershed conservation and more.

Applicants for 2021 grants must be affiliated with a nonprofit organization, school or community group in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana or Missouri. Preference will be given to organizations that have experienced an interruption to their revenue stream due to the pandemic. Additional information and application forms for the OSF Youth Engagement Grant Program are located at www.ozarksociety.net/foundation/foundation-youth-grants. Questions can be emailed to: youthgrants@ozarksociety.net

About The Ozark Society Foundation
Established as a nonprofit organization in 1975, The Ozark Society Foundation works with the Ozark Society and other state organizations to support and promote conservation, education and recreation activity in the Ozark-Ouachita region and surrounding lowlands. OSF is a major publisher of high-quality conservation and nature-related books about the Ozark-Ouachita mountains region, having published more than two dozen books on the topic. Learn more at: www.ozarksociety.net