This-N-That
Kids Asked To Lace Up In Gold
New York, NY—Solving Kids’ Cancer (SKC) will hold its annual Lace Up For Kids campaign to bring attention and raise funds during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this month.
What began as an effort to raise awareness is now positioned as a way to raise funds for the organization. In its sixth year, SKC will gift and distribute 100,000 shoelaces in metallic gold, the designated color for childhood cancer awareness, to schools and kids’ organizations nationally and internationally for Lace Up For Kids. Thousands of participants will swap their shoelaces on their favorite sneakers or boots for extra-special gold ones and share on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook to raise awareness and funds to fight childhood cancers and advance science for treatments and cures beyond traditional remedies.
Kids of all ages are encouraged to set up a fundraising page and get their communities involved. Over 250 participating sports teams, gyms, youth groups, schools, hospitals, childhood cancer families and organizations and over 60 social media influencers have participated in Lace Up For Kids.
For more information, visit https://solvingkidscancer.rallybound.org/2022-lace-up-for-kids.
International Order of T. Roosevelt Partners With Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation
Dallas, Texas—Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation, a provider of outdoor skill, safety and conservation curriculum to schools nationwide, has received a $100,000 grant from the International Order of T. Roosevelt to fund a partnership aimed at raising youth awareness and education about wildlife conservation.
OTF operates through its Outdoor Adventures program, a fun, interactive course where students are taught lifelong skills using an integrated, 34-unit curriculum comprised of math, science, writing, and critical-thinking skills. The 300 detailed lesson plans cover angler education, archery, hunter education, boater education, orienteering, survival skills, camping, outdoor cooking, challenge courses, backpacking, mountain bike camping, paddle sports, rock climbing, shooting sports, CPR/first aid and fauna, flora and wilderness medicine. OA teachers can pick units specific to their region and local ecosystems.
The Outdoor Adventures education program is offered in 1,070 schools in 47 states nationwide with more than 90,000 students participating each year and more than 550,000 program graduates. Each OA student spends 180 hours learning outdoor education per year. The program has totaled 18-million classroom hours of outdoor education to date.
Field Notes
The parent company Faulks Brothers Construction Inc. and divisions of SportZmix Solutions and Waupaca Sand and Solutions announce the acquisition of Kempker Greens Mix Blending. Based in Eugene Mo., Kempker brings over 32 years of soil blending and custom processing materials for both sand plant partners as well as golf and sports field contractors.
SiteOne Landscape Supply is partnering with Automated Outdoor Solutions to expand its robotic mower product offerings and create a robust national model to provide aftersales and service support, installation, and financial solutions for robotic turf care equipment.
Triangle Chemical Company recently joined United Turf Alliance as its newest owner. Based in Macon, Ga., Triangle has locations in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina. Its turf & ornamental division serves customers in the golf, lawn care, landscaping, and athletic facilities markets with eight distribution centers throughout the Southeast. Ownership in UTA will help the company continue to grow its T&O division through partnership with distributors around the country.
Munro, a manufacturer of pumps, pump controls, and pump stations for the turf irrigation market, has named David Bubsy as its new Southwest Regional Account Manager. Busby will work closely with the company's network of professional distributors as well as with irrigation specifiers, landscape architects, and landscape contractors, to provide industry-leading support and further develop and enhance Munro's current market presence.
© Can Stock Photo / PixelsAway
National Celebration Showcases Impacts of Trails
Washington—Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC), the nation’s largest trails and active-transportation advocacy organization, reports that more than 13,000 people participated in Celebrate Trails Day in April, which encourages people across the country to get outside on trails in their community.
Those who participated spent an average of 96 minutes being physically active outside on trails, which was 20 minutes more than they report being active on a typical day. In total, participants logged more than 1.3-million minutes of physical activity.
After participating, people agreed that trails and open spaces are important (96 percent and that trails contribute to the well-being of a community (96 percent). They also indicated that using trails makes a difference to their personal well-being (95 percent) and many say they plan to use trails as part of their day-to-day routine (78 percent), like going to the store, school, work or for exercise. In addition, the majority reported that having access to trails helps them to be physically active (82 percent) and that participating in events or activities on the trails motivates them to be physically active (95 percent), demonstrating the lasting benefits of engaging communities on trails.
Demand for trails continues to surge according to a recent opinion poll commissioned by RTC. One quarter of Americans (24 percent) say they’re using trails more than they did in the past year and two-thirds of people (62 percent) say they’re interested in using trails more than they do now. At the same time, the CDC reports that only about 1 in 4 adults fully meet the physical activity guidelines for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities and that increasing physical activity is one of the best things we can do for our health.
© Can Stock Photo / SeanPavonePhoto
Washington, DC, Park System Ranked Nation’s Best In ParkScore Index
San Francisco—Washington, DC, was rated the nation’s best big-city park system by the Trust for Public Land’s 2023 ParkScore index. Saint Paul, Minn., placed second, Minneapolis climbed to third, and Irvine, Calif., surged to fourth. Irvine climbed four places over 2022’s eighth-place finish and reached the top five for the first time in ParkScore index history. The ParkScore index evaluates park systems in the 100 largest U.S. cities.
Accompanying the annual ratings list, Trust for Public Land published new research reporting that cities with high ParkScore rankings are healthier places to live. Residents of cities rated 1-25 on the ParkScore index are nine percent less likely to report poor mental health than are residents of lower-ranking cities. Residents of higher-ranking cities are also 21 percent less likely to be physically inactive. This correlation, based on PLACES data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, holds true even after controlling for race/ethnicity, income, age, and population density.
According to Trust for Public Land, the 10 highest-ranking park systems in the United States are:
1. Washington, DC
2. St. Paul, Minn.
3. Minneapolis, Minn.
4. Irvine, Calif.
5. Arlington, Va.
6. Cincinnati, Ohio
7. San Francisco, Calif.
8. Seattle, Wash.
9. Portland, Ore.
10. New York, N.Y.
10. Boston, Mass.