LEEF Crowdfunding Campaign

As the world around us continues to change, all of us are feeling the effects of current circumstances, and LEEF is no exception. At LEEF, we are dedicated to engaging today’s youth in knowledge, awareness, and appreciation of the natural world. We strive to create a generation with passion for the environment, as well as the knowledge and drive to make change in the environmental climate left to them. While making good on these efforts is a continual work in progress, the events of this year have fostered in our organization and our EE community a greater sense of urgency than ever before.

Today’s youth remain one of the first generations to grow up almost entirely indoors. While one bright side of this year’s COVID recommendations and requirements was the increased amount of time for children to get outside, this year has also brought countless challenges--for educators and for their students. 

To help, we have channeled our energies into providing opportunities for professional development, support, and member engagement. This included Zoom discussion events on virtual and in-person summer camps, seminars on adapting to virtual education, five grants to education projects around the state, and a science-themed book club. Other highlights of the last year included hiring our first Executive Director, providing Project Wet training for over 100 Florida state park rangers (in process now!), and participating in multi-state waste management curriculum and a landscape analysis of EE in eight southeastern states to ensure that youth around the region have the opportunity to meaningfully connect to the outdoors. And although we canceled our 2020 conferences, our members were able to participate in inexpensive virtual conferences facilitated by members of our affiliate network, like the Southeastern Environmental Education Association and the National American Association for Environmental Education.

Hiring part-time Executive Director was a game changer for our organization.  For four decades our all-volunteer board has done a great job, but, after the state closed its office of Environmental Education in 2014, we have grown increasingly aware of LEEF's responsibility and potential to offer more for Florida's educators. Over the last several years, we have watched closely as other state association's brought in Executive Directors who transformed the capacity of their associations to improve the training opportunities of their educators. We are confident our experience will be the same.

In order to continue living our mission, we need your support. Donations to LEEF help us train educators, increase community engagement, build collective impact, and ensure environmental education is incorporated into all of Florida's classrooms--and beyond. This year, we will also use donations in order to bring our Executive Director on full-time. Will you join us as we work to provide today’s youth access to and knowledge of the natural world in a time they need it the most?