Friends Executive Directors attend National Park Friends Alliance Fall Meeting
Bands of elk are not the only ones to gather in Estes Park, Colorado this autumn. The gateway city to Rocky Mountains...
Friends Executive Director Jeff Rennicke announced today, June 4, 2024, that the full funding for our Access for All project has been secured. “The $325,000 you helped Friends raise has been matched by $350,000 through the National Park Foundation, corporate sponsors and other sources to make it possible to move forward on the landmark Meyers Beach ramp project,” Rennicke said in making the announcement.
Planning and securing bids from contractors will begin in 2024 with ground-breaking to take place in spring of 2025. “We are on our way. This is a huge moment for those who believe national parks belong to all of us,” Rennicke said. “With your help the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is playing a leading role in accessibility within the National Park Service and, most importantly, making our park better, safer, and more accessible for all.”
In the most ambitious capital campaign ever undertaken by Friends, nearly 500 individual donors like you (including nearly 200 first-time Friends contributors) joined together with sponsors such as Kwik Trip, the John R. Flanagan Charitable Foundation, the Black Spruce Fund, and others to help us meet and exceed our goal. “It was a true community effort,” Rennicke says, “reflecting the love people have for the Apostle Islands and the importance of ensuring we do all we can to make our park accessible.”
Slated for completion in late 2025, the 520-foot Meyers Beach ramp will join other major projects such as the all-accessible amphitheater on Stockton Island, the nearly completed boardwalk on Sand Island, the accessible overlook at Little Sand Bay, and others in furthering the commitment of Friends in supporting the National Lakeshore and its ongoing accessibility leadership.
As Janet Badura, adventurer and power wheelchair user, says in her video “An Accessible Dream” made in support of this project, “We all deserve to be included. We all deserve to feel the power, see the majesty and be inspired by our ethereal National Parks.” With your help, that dream just took another step towards coming true for all of us.
Stay tuned for updates, progress reports, and more details as this vital project progresses. Thank you for your support of Access for All.
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