Archive for the ‘Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’ Category

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Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation allocates over $650,000 to BRP

Monday, March 12th, 2012
The Board of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation has unanimously approved over $650,000 in funding to the Blue Ridge Parkway for 2012 projects and programs. These projects and programs cover a range of initiatives, including children’s education, projects to enrich the visitors’ experience, and preservation of historic, cultural and natural resources along the length of the Parkway. Superintendent of the Parkway, Phil Francis says, "The staff of the Parkway and I are very grateful to the Foundation for their generous contribution this year. The support provided by the Foundation has become vital to our ability to meet some of the Parkway’s most basic needs and maintain a sustainable and healthy Blue Ridge Parkway.”

Something that I found particularly intriguing is the announcement that the Blue Ridge Parkway will be partnering with Ray’s Weather and Appalachian State University to build a comprehensive weather website and smart-phone application covering the entire Blue Ridge Parkway. Using information from weather stations and webcams installed along the Parkway, the site will include custom forecasts, live weather conditions, live webcam images and video, radar and satellite imagery, climate information and reader supplied photography and comments.

A complete list of the approved projects for 2012 can be found on the Foundation’s website.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Ray’s Weather | Comments Off

Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and RaysWeather.Com Partner on 2012 Calendar

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and RaysWeather.Com announced yesterday a partnership to produce the 2012 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation Calendar.

RaysWeather.Com has sponsored a photo contest and calendar featuring photography from northwest North Carolina for the past nine years. For the 2012 calendar, the photo contest will solicit entries spanning the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, from Waynesboro, Virginia, to Cherokee, North Carolina.

Depending on the number of calendars sold, 44% to 70% of net calendar proceeds will be donated to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.

The 2012 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation Calendar photo contest is open for online entries through June 15, 2011. According to Dr. Ray Russell, President of RaysWeather.com, "We're looking for the best, most unique photos capturing the beauty, activities, and essence of the Blue Ridge Parkway in all seasons of the year."

Twenty-five photos from each of the four seasons will be selected as finalists and will be voted on by RaysWeather.Com readers. "We are so happy to be partnering with RaysWeather.Com to offer what is sure to be a must-have calendar for 2012. The photos that are already pouring in are so wonderful, we can't wait to see the winners," said Carolyn Ward, CEO of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. For more details and to submit an entry, visit raysweather.com/Photo+Contest.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior, is the primary private fundraising organization for the Blue Ridge Parkway.

RaysWeather.Com is one of the most widely read media outlets in northwest North Carolina, and provides forecasts for the North Carolina Mountains. RaysWeather.Com (with over 20 webcams and over 50 weather stations) is in its eleventh year of operation providing custom weather forecasts, weather conditions, climate data, and other information from the Southern Appalachians.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in 2012 Calendar, Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Photo Contest, RaysWeather.Com, blue ridge parkway | Comments Off

BRP Foundation receives grant to build 2 new TRACK Trails

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’s Kids in Parks Program received a $15,500 Active Trails Grant from the National Park Foundation to help build 2 new TRACK Trails on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Funding for the projects will be provided by the National Park Foundation’s Active Trails Grant Program, a nationwide program designed to promote healthy lifestyles while protecting and enhancing our National Parks’ trail resources.

Jason Urroz, Director of the Kids in Parks program, said “We’re looking forward to opening two new TRACK Trails on the Parkway in Virginia. These two new trail locations will help complete a network of trails already established in communities surrounding the region. TRACK Trails are fun, easy and free and provide kids and families with an interactive way to explore the world around them.”

The TRACK Trail program is part of the larger Kids in Parks Initiative sponsored by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. Working together with partners throughout the community, their mission is to increase physical activity of children and their families, to improve nutritional choices, and to get kids outdoors and along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The new TRACK Trail adventures in Virginia will be designed to help kids explore nature through the use of self-guided brochures. The TRACK program is superimposed on existing trail systems and includes numerous adventures for visitors to experience, maximizing the educational and recreational value of each singular trail. Motivational incentives or ‘prizes’ for participation are provided through registration on the web page, www.kidsinparks.com. In this manner, not only are participants motivated to experience the first trail, they are prompted to either return or visit another TRACK Trail in order to achieve the next reward.



Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Kids in Parks Program, TRACK Trails, blue ridge parkway | Comments Off

BRP Foundation receives grant to build 2 new TRACK Trails

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’s Kids in Parks Program received a $15,500 Active Trails Grant from the National Park Foundation to help build 2 new TRACK Trails on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Funding for the projects will be provided by the National Park Foundation’s Active Trails Grant Program, a nationwide program designed to promote healthy lifestyles while protecting and enhancing our National Parks’ trail resources.

Jason Urroz, Director of the Kids in Parks program, said “We’re looking forward to opening two new TRACK Trails on the Parkway in Virginia. These two new trail locations will help complete a network of trails already established in communities surrounding the region. TRACK Trails are fun, easy and free and provide kids and families with an interactive way to explore the world around them.”

The TRACK Trail program is part of the larger Kids in Parks Initiative sponsored by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. Working together with partners throughout the community, their mission is to increase physical activity of children and their families, to improve nutritional choices, and to get kids outdoors and along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The new TRACK Trail adventures in Virginia will be designed to help kids explore nature through the use of self-guided brochures. The TRACK program is superimposed on existing trail systems and includes numerous adventures for visitors to experience, maximizing the educational and recreational value of each singular trail. Motivational incentives or ‘prizes’ for participation are provided through registration on the web page, www.kidsinparks.com. In this manner, not only are participants motivated to experience the first trail, they are prompted to either return or visit another TRACK Trail in order to achieve the next reward.



Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, TRACK Trails, blue ridge parkway | Comments Off

Foundation allocates $500,000 to Blue Ridge Parkway projects & programs

Saturday, March 26th, 2011
As the primary fundraiser for the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation announced on Thursday that they will be providing $500,000 in funding for park projects and programs.

Superintendent of the Parkway, Phil Francis, told the BRP Foundation that, “The staff of the Parkway and I are very grateful to the Foundation for their very generous contribution to fund a variety of important needs that we have this year. Without their support, we would not be able to fund projects and programs that help us serve Parkway visitors, educate young people, and protect the Parkway for future generations.”

The bulk of those funds will support three key projects this year:

* $200,000 will go towards the construction of a new 1,200 square foot communications center building at the Blue Ridge Parkway Headquarters in Asheville. The building will house the Parkway’s interagency dispatch operation which forms the vital link and nerve center for the system of 34 microwave transmitters and receivers at ten locations serving the entire park (plus 2 NC state parks, US Forest Service, Veteran’s Administration, and King’s Mountain NMP with vital radio service).

* $105,000 will be allocated to Parks As Classrooms, one of the flagship programs funded each year by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation since 1998.

* $65,000 will be needed to purchase portable (handheld) radios and a base station in order to access the North Carolina Voice Interoperability Project (Plan) for Emergency Responders.

To view all the other projects the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation will be funding this year, please click here.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, funding, park projects, programs | Comments Off

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