Ball Brothers back Outdoor Experience

Indiana DNR Release: Grant lends support to Student Day for fall event at Fort Harrison

The Indiana Natural Resources Foundation has received a $30,000 grant from the Ball Brothers Foundation to support Student Day programming at the Hoosier Outdoor Experience at Fort Harrison State Park in September.

“We are honored to be the beneficiary of the Ball Brothers grant and privileged to give back to Indiana through the program and outreach that its support will make possible,” said Robert E. Carter Jr., director of the Department of Natural Resources.

The Hoosier Outdoor Experience is scheduled for Sept. 25-27, at Fort Harrison State Park, with the last two days open to the public. Presented by the DNR and the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation, it is a first-of-its-kind opportunity for aspiring outdoor enthusiasts to experience in a hands-on, interactive fashion the range of recreational opportunities available across Indiana.

Student Day, scheduled for Sept. 25, will teach 1,000 registered third graders from Delaware, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Madison and Marion counties about the connections between habitat, the environment and citizenship.

“Young people are one of our target audiences for the Hoosier Outdoor Experience,” said Bourke Patton, INRF executive director. “The Ball Brothers Foundation also recognizes the value of providing environmental education, and with their support, we will be able to help hundreds of school children make that connection with the outdoors.”

The Ball Brothers Foundation’s motto is “Building Community Since 1926.” Its grant program focuses on six broad subject areas: education, arts, culture and humanities, human services, public/society benefit, health and environment. The Foundation, established in 1926 as an independent, private, family philanthropic organization, is an outgrowth of business successes of the five Ball brothers and their descendents.

Learn more about the Hoosier Outdoor Experience at hoosieroutdoorexperience.IN.gov.