The Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association has announced the 2021 recipients of its Kermit Henning Youth Education Grants.

Nine organizations have received funding for programs designed to get youth outdoors and to teach them about the valuable natural resources available throughout the state, including Blue Ridge Rifles Muzzleloader Club of Orwigsburg.

The club received $200, for the Youth Shoot at the club’s Memorial Day Rendezvous, allowing the club to waive all fees for youth.

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 such as conservation camps, field days, fishing derbies, educational activities in schools, shooting programs and many more for over 35 years.

POWA’s youth grant fund has been is funded primarily through the Annual Sportsmen’s Auction held at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg in February. With the cancellation of the sports show in 2020, however, the organization hosted a Sporting Clays and Wobble Trap Shoot with the help and sponsorship of Martz’s Gap View Hunting Preserve in Dalmatia.

To date, POWA has raised and distributed over $424,000 to fund youth educational opportunities. With the expected return of the 2022 Great American Outdoor Show, next year’s auction is set for Feb. 13, 2022. POWA supporting and individual members, as well as many of the show’s vendors, donate items and services. Donations to the fund are also accepted.

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 paoutdoorwriters.com, or contact Executive Director Paula Piatt at ppiatt@paoutdorwriters.com