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It’s not every day that you will help protect our national parks and preserve our environment by simply clicking your mouse. But today you can! Target has created a great opportunity for all American’s to help raise cash support for our national parks - and all it takes is casting an online vote.

The National Park Foundation was selected by Target to benefit from Bullseye Gives, a two-week long giving campaign on its Facebook page. From May 10th to May 25th, Facebook users have the power to decide how Target will distribute $3 million among ten nonprofit organizations - including NPF. The percentage of votes the Foundation receives will represent its portion of the $3 million.

So take a few seconds and lend your support for our national parks. Visit Target’s facebook page, click the “Vote” tab and cast your ballot for the National Park Foundation.  Vote today and every day through May 25th.

Today the National Park Foundation announced the winners of the 2008 Share The Experience Photo Contest. The contest encourages amateur photographers to enter their favorite photographs from national parks, forests, recreation areas, and wildlife refuges in the hopes of winning great prizes. This year’s Grand Prize winning photo by Mark Campbell of Enid, Oklahoma will grace the cover of the 2010 America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass. He will also receive a trip to a national park of his choice and an Olympus E-3 digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera kit. Congratulations, Mark!

The 2009 Photo Contest will open on May 4, 2009. Get your cameras ready!

In 2009, First Bloom expanded from five cities to serve 16 national parks in communities across the country - including San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in Texas. Last Friday, Boys and Girls Club kids planted gardens between Mission San Jose and the San Antonio River. The San Antonio Express-News reported:

But from the blackfoot daisies and rock roses down to the mulch made of crushed pecan shells, the pair of 200-square-foot gardens are the culmination of 12 students’ months long study of South Texas’ native plants.

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Last week, Americans celebrated the life of one of our most important presidents through the national parks that honor him. From the grandeur of Mount Rushmore to the hallowed ground of Gettysburg, park visitors. Even the National Park Foundation’s chair, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, commemorated the day at the Lincoln Memorial where he noted: “Abraham Lincoln is not only one of the greatest presidents, he is in many ways the definition of what it means to be an American.”

Kids and adults across the nation are working with the National Park Foundation to preserve Lincoln’s legacy. At St. Stephen’s Regional School, Port Carbon, students are participating in “Give A Lincoln for Lincoln,” an initiative introduced by the National Park Foundation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and History that asks all American’s to help preserve six key historical sites national parks and historic sites associated with Abraham Lincoln. Over the weekend, city officials in Pittsburgh, PA have also joined the cause, encouraging local citizens to give. The campaign encourages people of all ages to donate Lincoln-head pennies, five dollar bills, or make larger donations online. Read the rest of this entry »

First Bloom was invited to participate in the White House Garden Tours on August 9, 2008. Kids are getting their hands dirty and learning about native species and the environment in their own backyards. Read the rest of this entry »