Heart of Marin Award for Nonprofit Excellence Awarded to Headlands Institute

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                 

HEART OF MARIN AWARD FOR NONPROFIT EXCELLENCE AWARDED TO HEADLANDS INSTITUTE, A CAMPUS OF NATUREBRIDGE

Leading environmental education organization chosen by The Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership from 138 deserving nonprofit nominees

San Rafael (January 7, 2010)-The Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership today awarded the Heart of Marin Award for Nonprofit Excellence to Headlands Institute, the 32-year-old residential environmental education nonprofit located on the shores of Rodeo Beach. The Award for Nonprofit Leadership is sponsored by Autodesk and comes with a $5,000 award, which will support scholarships that allow students from economically disadvantaged communities to attend Headlands Institute's environmental field science programs.

Event Emcee Jan Wahl, from KCBS and KRON 4, presented the award noting that the profound personal connections students make to the natural environment and to each other at Headlands Institute are as important as the scientific learning that students experience during a field trip to Headlands Institute.  

Headlands Institute Director Elizabeth Larose Dunn and Board member Bruce Wheeler accepted the award. 

“We are very proud and grateful to be recognized with this award which will allow us to provide more scholarships to a student population that reflects of the diversity of the Bay Area," said Larose Dunn.

Headlands Institute offers thousands of youth the opportunity to connect with nature, to learn ways to live that are environmentally sound, how to think sustainably and how to work and play with others. In 2008, Headlands Institute served 10,095 children, 51% of whom qualified for free and reduced lunch under the federal guidelines.  To ensure that Headlands Institute is open to all interested schools, the program offered $165,750 in scholarships to offset the cost of participation.

In 2008, Headlands Institute also coordinated the participation of 2,544 local volunteers in stewardship projects. These volunteers contributed 1,563 hours of environmental stewardship to the Golden Gate National Recreation area. In all, 133 bags of trash were collected from Rodeo Beach and Marin Headlands trails, and 2,500 pounds of food waste were composted.

About Headlands Institute

Headlands Institute is a campus of NatureBridge, the largest residential educational partner of the National Park Service. It is dedicated to inspiring youth from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds with passion for the environment and the desire to protect it. In partnership with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Headlands Institute offers two to five day environmental education programs in the Marin Headlands for students in grades one through 12. Over the past 31 years, the nonprofit organization has served over a quarter of a million children from throughout the Bay Area and beyond. The Institute's classroom includes a state-of-the-art marine lab, 60 miles of coastal lands rich with beaches, cliffs, chaparral, mountains, prairie, live oak woodlands, salt marshes, freshwater wetlands and redwood forests. It contains more than half of North American avian species, nearly one third of California's plant species, 33 threatened and endangered species, and 61 archeological sites. This unique learning environment helps students realize the impact their actions back home have on the world around them and inspires them toward lifelong stewardship.

Contact: Susan Turner
NatureBridge
sturner@naturebridge.org