DGIF announces Virginia Wildlife Grant Program awards

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has announced the 2019 recipients of the Virginia Wildlife Grant Program.

Since the program’s inception in 2014, DGIF has received over $1.5 million dollars of submissions and has been able to award over $310,000, impacting over 50,000 youths.

The Virginia Wildlife Grant Program provides a funding source to non-profits, schools and government organizations with a focus on connecting youth to the outdoors. The program is a partnership effort between the DGIF and the Wildlife Foundation of Virginia (WFV), and is funded through the sales of merchandise, private contributions and fundraising events.

This year, the owner of Richmond Ford, Ron Kody, supported the grant program again in the Richmond area to connect youth through fishing and wildlife viewing to honor his dad’s outdoor legacy.

In 2019, the Virginia Wildlife Grant Program continued to support the national initiative, called “R3,” to recruit and retain youths into the outdoors through recreational opportunities like archery, fishing, wildlife viewing, etc.

This year, DGIF awarded almost $62,000 to support 25 projects impacting 5,800 youth. Almost 20 percent of the projects focus on at-risk youth through supporting intellectual, and physical and financial needs. Focusing on engaging female, Hispanic, and urban populations is a priority of the Virginia Wildlife Grant Program.

Activities supported through the grant are archery, boating, fishing, hunting, recreational shooting, and wildlife viewing.

Virginia Wildlife Grant Program Awardees

Archery

• Appomattox 4-H
• Bearcreek Eagles Archery Team
• Occoneechee State Park
• Staunton River Battlefield State Park

Boating

• J Frank Hillyard Middle School – Rockingham County
• Blue Ridge Autism and Achievement Center
• Portsmouth 4-H Program

Fishing

• Friends of Widewater State Park
• Jacob’s Chance
• Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River
• Southeast 4-H Educational Center
• Westover Hills PTA

Hunting

• Goochland High School
• King George Outdoor Club
• Virginia Hunter Education Association
• Young Life

Recreational Shooting

• Blue Ridge Mountains Council
• Triangle Gun Club, Inc.
• Virginia 4-H Shooting Council

Wildlife Viewing

• Friends of Huntley Meadows Park
• Albright Scout Reservation (BSA)
• Blue Ridge Discovery Center
• Roanoke Parks and Recreation
• Skyline High School
• Gate City High School