National Recreation Foundation

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Introduction

Kathryn A. Porter, President

Tony Mobley, Executive Director

We are pleased to report that we have provided approximately $2,000,000 of funding for 28 very innovative and creative programs throughout the United States.

The National Recreation Foundation has enjoyed another productive year. We supported 36 programs throughout the United States for a total of just under two million dollars.

You will note a newly revised mission statement for the National Recreation Foundation in the following pages. It is an attempt to tighten our focus and to more clearly state our goals and direction. We appreciate the involvement of our Trustees in this important task.

The broad variety of programs all relate to our primary mission which focuses on youth-at-risk and healthy lifestyles.While the Founda- tion grew out of the military recreation and parks and recreation fields in the early 1900s, you will note that we interpret our mission very broadly as we attempt to be an enhancing force on youth by investing strategically in recreation with a special focus for those who are economically, physically or mentally disadvantaged.

The Foundation is very proud of the quality and the results of the projects which have been funded. Every effort is made to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs in relationship to their goals. One of our approaches is to invest in programs in local not-for-profits or government agencies that appear to have the potential to be replicated elsewhere. Several of the larger grants listed in this Review grew from the success of a NRF funded small program in a single community and have subsequently increased dramatically and have spread to other sites in the country.

One of the strengths of our Foundation is the heavy involvement of our Trustees, and their participation is very important to our work. We are fortunate to have Trustees in all areas of the country. They have been extremely helpful in evaluating our current projects as well as in identifying possible new programs as we look to the future.

The brief descriptions appearing in this Review do not begin to describe the impact of the programs. Please use this information to glean as many new ideas as possible and put them to work in your community. If you do that, by working together we all will have made a major contribution to the youth of the nation.