CAMP HILL — With the goal of showcasing all that PA’s 121 state parks and 20 forest districts have to offer, the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation is participating in the inaugural I Love My State Parks Week, a campaign hosted by the National Association of State Parks Foundations from May 8 through 15.
The United States boasts more than 8,500 state parks and forests covering 18.6 million acres with 52,600 miles of trails. Along with these beloved natural areas comes an army of Friends groups and fellow volunteers dedicated to caring for them.The National Association of State Parks Foundations was formed by the leadership of park foundations, including Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation which serves as an umbrella organization to nearly 50 volunteer chapters throughout Pennsylvania. These foundations joined forces seeking to support one another, along with the vast networks of volunteers, in an effort to provide a national voice and advocate for all state parks. The National Association of State Parks Foundations works to connect, build, elevate, and empower the statewide non-profit partners of America’s state parks and one effort toward this goal is I Love My State Parks Week.
Kicking off on Mother’s Day, I Love My State Parks Week aims to increase the visibility of state parks and raise awareness about their many benefits, engage new audiences and promote access, and connect with the public through personal testimonials, storytelling, and photos showing why these spaces are so important. With daily themes and a ready-to-go social media toolkit, National Association of State Parks Foundations encourages all members, state parks foundations, friends’ groups, state park agencies, and partners to share and amplify the I Love My State Parks Week content on their own social platforms to increase engagement.
You can participate by showing your love for PA’s state parks by sharing your outdoor adventures, photos, and special memories on social media, tag PPFF, and use the hashtags #ILoveMyStateParks,
#ILoveMyState
ParksWeek, #ILovePAStateParks, and #NASPF.
Concurrently, I Love My State Parks Week is one of several special outdoor holidays being celebrated throughout the year in PPFF’s new #GetMovingPA effort that calls for park and forest visitors and volunteers to share video footage of their adventures and volunteerism in PA’s parks and forests on social media. Learn more at https://paparksandforests.org/news/getmovingpa/.
Stay connected and learn about I Love My State Parks Week events with the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation and our Friends Groups throughout the state by signing up to receive PPFF’s weekly Take Five e-blasts and by following us on social media.
