March 19, 2024
Private foundation partnered with CFO for annual grant program
L-A-D Foundation has granted $54,485 to seven nonprofits that support the conservation of natural and cultural resources in its 12-county service area. Based in St. Louis, L-A-D Foundation manages the Pioneer Forest and holds land with natural, geologic, cultural or historic interest in Carter, Crawford, Dent, Madison, Maries, Oregon, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Ste. Genevieve, Shannon and Texas counties.
The recipients of L-A-D Foundation’s 2024 grant program are:
- Cave Research Foundation: $9,070 for interpretive signage about the karst landscape in Perry County. The grant funds the creation and installation of the signs with additional support from various nonprofit and governmental partners.
- Greater Ozarks Audubon Society: $6,000 for the Green Leadership Academy for Diverse Ecosystems. The grant will support four high school students’ participation in GLADE, an ecology-focused camp that combines conservation projects with leadership training.
- Montauk State Park: $6,280 for natural and cultural education programming. The grant will support the purchase of equipment for an educational program focused on local cultural history, traditional hunting methods and citizen science.
- Missouri Coalition for the Environment: $10,000 for education and outreach on mining in the Missouri Ozarks. The efforts will provide education on the impact of mining operations on the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Eleven Point River, and other related waterways and ecosystems.
- Missouri Environmental Education Association: $8,065 for the Roots to Canopy project with Salem Public Library. The project comprises nature-themed reading and educational kits and activities for families to promote environmental education in Dent County.
- Ozark Riverways Foundation: $5,170 for new equipment and material for the Round Spring Visitor Center in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The grant will replace items for educational field trips that were destroyed by a fire at the center in Shannon County, as well as the refurbishment and installation of a cave model.
- Salem Area Community Betterment Association: $9,900 for a master plan to guide improvements of the campus. The master plan will prioritize future projects and facilitate funding and grant opportunities in an overall goal of community enrichment.
“On behalf of L-A-D’s Grants Committee, I’d like to share how excited we are about this year’s project awards. Each represents a fantastic opportunity to further nature-based education, public recreation and encouragement for policies that have a positive influence on the Missouri Ozarks,” said Jennifer Warren, executive director of the L-A-D Foundation. “With assistance from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, we’ve been able to award grants to partners and projects that improve and provide access to natural and cultural resources, in turn benefitting our local communities.”
About L-A-D Foundation: Incorporated in 1962, the L-A-D Foundation is a Missouri private operating foundation dedicated to the responsible management of Pioneer Forest as a working demonstration of renewable resource use compatible with the long-term carrying capacity and health of the land and water. The Foundation also acquires and preserves in the public interest outstanding areas of natural, geologic, cultural or historic interest. In addition, the Foundation provides support to various projects consistent with its conservation goals, with a particular focus on the Missouri Ozarks region.
