National Park Trust Celebrates 15 Years of Partnership with Caesars Foundation

October 9, 2025

Partnership connects thousands of kids nationwide to the great outdoors

Washington, D.C. (October 9, 2025) /OUTDOOR SPORTSWIRE/ – National Park Trust is proud to celebrate the 15th anniversary of its partnership with the Caesars Foundation. This collaboration has connected tens of thousands of students with parks and public lands through the Park Trust’s Buddy Bison School Program, inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards. Since 2010, Caesars has provided financial and volunteer support to the Park Trust to help children become healthier, tap into their intellectual curiosity as they explore outdoors, and foster conservation values and promote sustainability through various initiatives, including the Buddy Bison Carbon Reduction Contest.

Over the past 15 years, the partnership has expanded from initially supporting five schools annually to 14 elementary schools across various urban and rural communities. Centered around the Park Trust’s woolly mascot, Buddy Bison, who encourages kids to “Explore outdoors; the parks are yours!” the partnership last year provided approximately 1,000 students with 29 unique experiences, including both in-park adventures and virtual programs. The program expands access for kids who might not otherwise have the opportunity to explore public lands, ranging from trips to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, to John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Pennsylvania, to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in AZ.

By engaging young people with hands-on learning in parks and pairing those experiences with Caesars’ commitment to sustainability, the partnership also reinforces the importance of protecting our parks and the environment for future generations. Caesars’ HEROs volunteers further this mission by joining students in the parks, building personal connections with each school, and highlighting Caesars’ commitment to supporting their local communities.

The partnership has also engaged students from three schools yearly through the Buddy Bison Carbon Reduction Contest, part of Caesars’ CodeGreen initiative. The contest, established in 2014 with initial support from the Foundation, teaches elementary school children how to identify, measure, and reduce their environmental impact. Through their ongoing support from 2014 to 2024, more than 2,200 students participated, resulting in a reduction of CO₂ emissions by over 227,000 pounds, a decrease in trash generated by 26,600 pounds, and a decrease in water usage by 1.5 million gallons. Beyond the numbers, the contest empowers students to recognize that small, everyday choices can collectively have a meaningful impact.

“When we established this partnership 15 years ago, we couldn’t have predicted the long-standing impact it has made for students in our communities,” said Kiersten Flint, SVP of Corporate Social Responsibility and Internal Communications at Caesars Entertainment. “It is our great privilege to support these incredible initiatives through monetary donations from our Caesars Foundation, volunteer hours spent by our local HEROs across the country and educational resources through CodeGreen. We’re tremendously proud of the work that has been done over the past 15 years and excited about the opportunity to further this legacy with our partners at National Park Trust.”

Grace Lee, executive director of National Park Trust, stated, “We are incredibly grateful for our long-term national partnership with the Caesars Foundation, which now encompasses 14 cities. Our work together over 15 years demonstrates our mutual commitment to enrich students’ lives through outdoor experiences of natural and cultural treasures in their communities while inspiring them to be the future caretakers of our country’s public lands and waters.”

ABOUT NATIONAL PARK TRUST

National Park Trust’s mission is to preserve parks today and create park stewards for tomorrow. Since 1983, the Park Trust has acquired many of the missing pieces of our national parks, expanding 56 national park sites across the country. Our national youth education and family initiatives, including Buddy Bison, College Ambassador, and Military Family Programs, as well as National Kids to Parks Day, serve tens of thousands of children annually and cultivate future park stewards. We believe that our public parks, lands, and waters should be cared for, enjoyed, and preserved for the benefit of current and future generations. Find out more at parktrust.org.

Media Contact: Ivan Levin at 540.818.5818 or ivan@parktrust.org