NEWS RELEASE
RARE CHARITABLE RESEARCH RESERVE
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In 2021, the rare Charitable Research Reserve received a $113,200 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s (OTF) Resilient Communities Fund. This support helped rare rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19 by pivoting their Every Child Outdoors education program to a virtual model in response to the pandemic.
“The funding helped secure necessary technology upgrades and capital purchases, program material, and supply costs, as well as direct personnel costs,” said Jenna Quinn, Research & Education priorities, Partnerships & Monitoring program scientist at rare.
Nearly 20,000 students have visited rare for youth environmental education programs. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted access to these programs.
“The funding helped rare to pivot our Every Child Outdoors program to additional platforms. It allowed us to utilize new teaching methods while remaining true to rare’s goal of supporting a meaningful connection to nature,” Quinn said.
OTF’s support helped produce a growing playlist of Nature Activity Videos made available free to the public on rare’s YouTube channel. Virtual field trips have been set up and more are planned, providing interactive slide presentations and activities that correspond with Ontario’s curriculum to educators via rare’s website. In addition, a small-group in-person Nature School program was created that sees students spend one day a week outside at rare as opposed to being in their usual classroom.
“Topics range from the basics of birding and animal life cycles, tailored to elementary students, to benthic invertebrate sampling and microplastics, tailored to high school students,” Quinn added. “This is all part of a growing library of lessons being made available, thanks to Ontario Trillium Foundation.”
“The funding has been tremendously helpful,” said James Bow, communications officer at rare. “The Nature Activity Videos have been viewed over 5,600 times since the project started. The virtual field trips have been accessed by over fifty classrooms thus far. The Nature School has continued with measures taken to ensure safety during the pandemic, serving over 20 kids, including several families whose costs were covered by these funders’ subsidies. We’ve just finished our Winter School session and our March Break ECO Camp now, and we are looking forward to our Spring School taking place weekly between April 21 to June 9.”
More information about the rare Nature School can be found on rare’s website.
About rare Charitable Research Reserve
The rare Charitable Research Reserve is an urban land trust and environmental institute protecting over 1,200 acres of environmentally sensitive lands in Waterloo Region and Wellington County. The organization engages the local community in the understanding and protection of these lands, encouraging people to see themselves as part of the environment and beneficiaries of protected natural lands. To this end, rare maintains over 12 kilometres of trails and runs research and education programs to spark a wonder of nature in the next generation of conservationists, and to build an understanding in the importance these lands have in maintaining and improving the health of the surrounding community and the individuals therein.
About Ontario Trillium Foundation
The OTF is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. Last year, nearly $112M was invested into 1,384 community projects and partnerships to build healthy and vibrant communities and strengthen the impact of Ontario’s non-profit sector. In 2020/21, OTF supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non\profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. Visit otf.ca to learn more.
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