Twentynine Palms Parks and Recreation receives two grants to fund walking program and girls basketball clinic
At last Tuesday’s Twentynine Palms City Council meeting, Amy Tessier of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department updated council on two grants received from the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).
“I’m thrilled to share that the Twentynine Palms Parks and Rec has been awarded two national grants from the National Recreation and Park Association which is a rare honor that highlights the strength of our programming and the trusted place in our community on a national level,” said Tessier. “Support from organizations like NRPA give Parks & Recreation the ability to truly leverage our resources and partnerships. It allows us to capitalize on the strong relationships that we’ve built with schools, non-profits, and community organizations to expand our reach and make a deeper impact, especially for members of our community who may otherwise be overlooked. These grants are not just funding, they are tools that help us turn collaboration into meaningful outcomes.”
The Supporting Healthy Aging Grant will fund ‘Walk With Ease’ – a free, six-week walking program open to all ages. Led by certified instructors, it begins February 9 (Mondays, Tuesday, & Thursdays at 9:00 a.m.) at Patriotic Hall, 5882 Luckie Avenue. The program was created by the Arthritis Foundation (with support from the Centers for Disease Control) as a “community-based physical activity and self-management education program.” In addition to the scheduled walking, the program includes health education, stretching and strengthening exercises, and motivational strategies. Twentynine Palms was one of 31 agencies nationwide to receive this $2,500 grant.
The second NRPA grant was a unique surprise because the NRPA reached out to Twentynine Palms specifically. The grant will fund ‘Girls Take the Court’, a girls-only basketball clinic to be held at the Community Center gym on February 16, 2:00-5:00 p.m., ages 6-14. Just five agencies nationwide received this $2,500 grant.
“The second grant is especially extraordinary, in my opinion, because NRPA actually reached out to us personally. They contacted me and asked for Twentynine Palms to apply for the National Girls and Women in Sports Day micro-grant. This recognizes the success of our past program – they said that the past work we’ve done with them is so impactful that they wanted us to apply again, which we did,” said Tessier. “Hundreds of agencies applied nationwide and Twentynine Palms was picked as only one in five in the country to be getting this grant, which I think is very special and puts our small city on a national stage that everyone should be proud of.”
Members of the Twentynine Palms High School Girls basketball team will be running the clinic and in the second half of the clinic, will be assisted by members of the Copper Mountain College (CMC) Womens basketball team, running ‘skills and drills’ for attendees. The CMC mascot, Spike, the Fighting Cacti, will also be there for morale support. Focus will be on skill-building, mentorship and positive role-models in a celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day on February 4th.
“It’s going to empower young athletes to see themselves as leaders both on and off the court. These grants demonstrate that Parks and Rec is far more than programs and facilities. While the grant figures may be small, we are able to do so much with them. With the money we’re getting, we’re able to connect and collaborate with community partners and be advocates for people in our community, residents of all ages.”
Finally, a plea from Tessier:
“If anyone knows anyone in the WNBA, I’m trying so hard to get a WNBA player to come to this event. I don’t have connections in the WNBA but if anyone does, please let me know because that would just take this event to the next level for our girls.”
