Camp Fire First Texas has received funding from the Anita Berry Martin Memorial Fund at North Texas Community Foundation to support its Texas Outdoor Education Center (TxOEC).
The $7,500 grant will support TxOEC that operates at Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro in Granbury. During the school year, hundreds of students from across North Texas spend one to five days at camp taking part in hands-on scientific experiences to learn about and care for the natural environment.
Trained staff lead students through both formal and informal activities to introduce and reinforce scientific concepts and competencies required for their grade level. Everything from astronomy, fossils studies, and cookouts are used as real life examples to build dialogue and understanding around scientific content.
“What I value about our experience with Camp Fire’s outdoor education program is my students learn more than just the lessons needed for success in the classroom,” a 5th grade science teacher shared. “They walk away with new, life-long skills that they will carry with them.”
With supporting funds from the Animal Fund, the Anita Berry Martin Memorial Endowment Fund, and the Helen D. and R.E. (Bob) Wallace Foundation Fund, the North Texas Community Foundation awarded a total of $284,451 to the following organizations:
Animal Welfare – Dogs, Cats and Horses
- Apollo Support and Rescue: To provide spay/neuter surgeries and medical assistance to dogs and cats.
- Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society: To provide veterinary services, farrier care, and feed to abused and neglect equine in North Texas, to get them ready for adoption.
- Buster’s Friends: To support spay/neuter surgeries, specialty animal care, vaccinations and support animal foster homes.
- Don’t Forget to Feed Me: For the purchase cat and dog food to distribute in the community.
- Friends of Arlington Animal Services: To provide spay/neuter surgeries for feral cats served through the Trap-Neuter-Return program and heartworm treatment for dogs.
- Golden Reward Sanctuary: For construction of custom stocks for onsite treatment, and the medical/veterinary needs of the rescued equine.
- Humane Society of North Texas:
• For the construction of two glass-enclosed cat condos in the Keller Regional Adoption Center.
• For the purchase of a horse trailer, equine scale, vet stock, compact manure spreader and three round pens for the equine rescue ranch.
- Mid-Cities Community Cats: To provide medical care for feral cats served through the Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return program.
- Panther City Feral Cat Coalition: To provide Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return services and medical care for injured and ill cats who are feral or abandoned.
- Parker County Sheriff’s Office: To provide specialized veterinary services for the abandoned, abused and neglected horses in Parker County.
- Ranch Hands Rescue: To provide veterinary services, farrier care, dental and medication for rescued equine.
- Remember Me Rescue: For the expansion of the obstacle course for training purposes and to enhance adoptability of the retired race horses in the rescue.
- Spay Neuter Network: To provide spay/neuter surgeries for dogs and cats in Fort Worth.
- Texas Coalition for Animal Protection: To support the Fort Worth Fix program providing spay/neuter services for pets of low-income residents in Fort Worth.
Equine Therapy
- All Star Equestrian Foundation: To purchase feed and hay for the herd of therapy horses.
- Riding Unlimited: To purchase hay for the herd of therapy horses.
- S.T.E.P.S With Horses: To provide equine therapy services for human trafficking survivors and the social services workers who support them.
- Stars and Strides Therapeutic Riding Center: For construction of two large paddocks for the equine.
- Victory Therapy Center: To support veterinary expenses and farrier services of their equine.
- Wings of Hope: For fencing, water hydrants and electrical improvements to their barn.
Land Conservation
- Botanical Research Institute of Texas: For the implementation of goat grazing to control brush, woody vegetation and invasive plant species at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.
- Camp Fire First Texas: To provide support for Title 1 schools to attend the Texas Outdoor Education Center.
- Fort Worth Report: To support environmental and conservation reporting.
- Great Plains Restoration Council: For the prairie restoration work with the participants in the Restoration Not Incarceration™ program.
- National Wildlife Federation: To help the recovery of monarch butterflies through empowering Fort Worth ISD students, teachers and community members to create milkweed habitats.
- River Legacy Foundation: To provides classes year-round in environmental science and Field Investigations for students in Tarrant County.
- Texas Land Conservancy: To provide assistance to land owners who may not have the financial means to finalize conservation easements.
- University of North Texas Foundation: To support the continued efforts to reestablish, protect and conserve 85 acres of prairie lands at Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area.
- Upper Trinity Regional Water District: For the purchase of a stream erosion trailer to aid in teaching the importance of land conservation.
- YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth: For the construction of a sustainable, educational greenhouse within a teaching community garden at YMCA Camp Carter.
Those interested can learn more about Camp Fire’s Texas Outdoor Education Center here.
About Camp Fire First Texas
Camp Fire First Texas invests in North Texas communities by providing out-of-school time and outdoor learning programs for children and youth while also offering workforce development programs for early childhood educators. We envision a community in which every child has equitable access to the learning opportunities they need to succeed and thrive in a rapidly changing world.
About North Texas Community Foundation
North Texas Community Foundation drives meaningful change through charitable investment. The Foundation helps donors meet the needs of our community by providing tax-efficient strategies to support the causes they care about most. At the core of everything we do is a network of generous individuals, families and businesses intent on shaping the future of North Texas for good, forever. The Foundation has $519 million in assets and made grants totaling approximately $30 million in 2021. Learn more at northtexascf.org.
