On July 27, the PA Outdoor Writers Association announced the 2022 recipients of its Kermit Henning Youth Education Grants.

Fourteen organizations have received over $9,000 in funding for programs designed to get youth outdoors and to teach them about the valuable natural resources available throughout the state.

The education grants honor the memory of Kermit Henning, a life member and past president of POWA. Kermit’s dedication was a driving force behind POWA’s annual Youth Education Grant Fund awards, which have supported youth outdoor educational opportunities throughout the state.

Recipients of this year’s award include:

-- Bertsch-Hokendauqua-Catasauqua Watershed Association, Coplay, Pa., $700 to support a bluebird trail / nest box educational project for a local high school environmental science class and a spring youth scavenger hunt along the Lehigh River.

-- Blue Ridge Rifles Muzzleloader Club, Orwigsburg, Pa., $200, for the Youth Shoot at the club’s Memorial Day Rendezvous, allowing the club to waive all fees for youth.

-- Brandywine Red Clay Alliance, West Chester, Pa., $700, to support its youth programs, including scholarships for students ages 4-15 at its Summer Nature Camps.

-- Cameron County Outdoor Youth Activities, Emporium, Pa.; $700; to support youth programs such as the youth doe hunt and Fish Fest, which welcomes more than 125 youth each year.

-- Camp Compass, Allentown, Pa., $700, an organization dedicated to introducing urban middle and high school students to various outdoor activities and giving them the opportunity to experience and participate in the outdoor lifestyle. 

-- Capital City Bassmasters, Landisburg, Pa., $700 for the annual Leukemia and Four Diamonds Fishing Derby for kids with leukemia, the Capital City Junior Bassmasters program and Casting for Kids events throughout central Pa.

-- Dauphin County Parks and Recreation, Harrisburg, Pa., $700 for support of Wildwood Park’s summer nature day camps, which provide environmental education to school children.

-- Jefferson County Youth Field Day, Sigel, Pa., $700, for its annual free event, giving youth the opportunity to have fun and develop new skills by participating in shooting sports, archery, canoeing and other skills stations. 

-- Monroe County Youth Field Day, Kresgeville, Pa., $700, for its annual youth field day which attracts over 200 kids ages 8-14 for educational displays, fishing, firearm safety and conservation information.

-- Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, Millersburg, Pa., $700 to support its Junior Naturalist Camps where kids explore nature and journal about their findings.

-- Pennsylvania Wildlife Habitat Unlimited, DuBois, Pa., $700, for its annual Clearfield County Youth Field Day, which draws 150-200 kids ages 7-14 for a day of fishing, shooting, stream activities, boating and canoeing and outdoor safety.

-- Schuylkill County Sportsmen’s Association Youth Field Day, Pottsville, Pa., $700 for its many programs, including the annual Youth Field Day, which includes free activities for youth, including fishing, canoeing, trap shooting, archery, black-powder shooting, air rifle, forestry, and trapping.

-- Wildlife Leadership Academy, Lock Haven, Pa., $700; for tuition scholarships to its weeklong summer field schools for high school students. The schools focus on single species, but are used as a springboard to explore ecological concepts and management issues.

-- York Area Sportsmen For Youth, New Freedom, Pa., $700 for its Youth Field Day which attracts 200 kids from the area for a day of outdoor and conservation education.

Background On Program

For more than 35 years, POWA has contributed to conservation camps, field days, fishing derbies, educational activities in schools and shooting programs among others.

POWA’s youth grant fund is funded primarily through the Annual Sportsmen’s Auction held at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg in February.

Also funding this year’s grants was an April Sporting Clays and Wobble Trap Shoot at Martz’s Gap View Hunting Preserve in Dalmatia, Pa., with sponsorship from White Flyer Targets.

To date, POWA has raised and distributed over $434,000 to fund youth educational opportunities. Next year’s auction is set for Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023 at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg.

In addition to serving as the state’s only professional organization for writers, photographers, artists, broadcasters and bloggers dedicated to informing Pennsylvanians about the wise use and management of natural resources and outdoor recreation, POWA’s mission includes promotion of outdoor education and increasing awareness and appreciation of our natural resources and outdoor heritage.

To learn more about membership in POWA, visit our website PA Outdoor Writers Association, or contact Executive Director Paula Piatt at ppiatt@paoutdorwriters.com.

[Posted: July 27, 2022]

8/1/2022