National Park Foundation Announces Junior Ranger Essay Winners

Skyler Baldwin of California, Jason Roy Maki of Washington State and Caroline
Bollinger of Virginia Win Top Prizes

WASHINGTON, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Park Foundation is proud to
announce winners of the 2009 Junior Ranger Essay Contest. The winners are:
First Place - Skyler Baldwin of California; Second Place - Jason Roy Maki of
Washington State; and Third Place - Caroline Bollinger of Virginia. The third
annual year of the essay contest asked kids aged 9 to 12: "Why are our
national parks important to you and what is your best idea to protect our
parks for the future?"

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090630/DC40408LOGO )

"Kids have an excitement about the national parks that we can all take a
lesson from," said Vin Cipolla, Vice Chair of the National Park Foundation.
"Young people who are given the chance to explore and spend time in national
parks have unique passion about the parks and the environment. This essay
contest is about giving them a microphone to tell their stories, and also
empowering them to become stewards by giving them a chance to direct grants to
the parks of their choice."

Miss Baldwin received a $1000 Visa gift card and the opportunity to direct a
$5,000 contribution from the National Park Foundation to his or her favorite
national park. She chose Yosemite National Park. The contribution will be
used to help put into action big ideas like those included in the winning
essay.

The other prizes are as follows:

Jason Maki, Second Prize: $500 Visa Gift Card and an America The Beautiful
Pass; $2,000 to Grand Teton National Park

Caroline Bollinger, Third Prize: $250 Visa Gift Card and an America The
Beautiful Pass; $1,000 to Great Falls Park

Kelsey Fosstveit and Tom Goodwin, Honorable Mention: America The Beautiful
Pass

An excerpt from fifth grader Miss Baldwin's First Place essay follows:

"I have some great ideas to protect our Parks for the future. First, national
parks should tap into the youth culture using celebrities...I think national
parks should get Ryan Seacrest to announce National Park Day and inform the
audience...about the beauty of national parks and remind them to help parks by
donating money or volunteering with repairing or cleaning trails or even just
by visiting them. ...Another great idea is to make a national parks video
game. The subjects could be: that you have to save the endangered animals; or,
make it around a map of national parks that have obstacles, like a herd of
elk, bears, a stream, waterfall, a Ranger, and beat other people's times."

All winning essays will be featured in the 2009 Junior Ranger Gazette,
published by the contest sponsor, Unilever.

All of the winning essays are available at:
www.nationalparks.org/essaycontest.

More than 400 essays were submitted from March 16, 2009 and May 1, 2009 by
kids living from Connecticut to Florida, Nebraska to Hawaii, and everywhere in
between. Classrooms at elementary schools in several states -- from California
to Pennsylvania -- incorporated the essay contest into their curricula; 75% of
entries came through NPF's online portal, while the remainder were sent via
mail.

The 2009 National Park Foundation Junior Ranger Essay Contest is sponsored by
Unilever, Proud Partner of America's National Parks, as part of the its
ongoing commitment to the National Park Junior Ranger program.

About the National Park Foundation The National Park Foundation is an
independent charitable organization chartered by Congress in 1967 to
strengthen the connection between the American people and their national
parks. As the official national non-profit partner of America's National
Parks, the Foundation raises private funds, makes strategic grants, creates
innovative partnerships and increases public awareness about the need and
opportunity for park philanthropy. In its 2008 fiscal year, the National Park
Foundation distributed grants and program support of $27.3M. To learn more,
visit www.nationalparks.org.

About Unilever Unilever's mission is to add vitality to life. We meet everyday
needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people
feel good, look good and get more out of life. Each day, around the world,
consumers make 160 million decisions to purchase Unilever products. In the
United States, the portfolio includes major brand icons such as: Axe, "all,"
Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal
care products, Hellmann's, Klondike, Knorr, Lipton, Popsicle, Promise, Q-Tips,
Skippy, Slim-Fast, Snuggle, Suave, Sunsilk and Vaseline. All of the preceding
brand names are registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.
Dedicated to serving consumers and the communities where we live, work and
play, Unilever employs more than 14,000 people in both the United States and
Puerto Rico -- generating nearly $11 billion in sales in 2007. For more
information, visit www.unileverusa.com.

Contact:
Mark Shields (mshields@nationalparks.org)
National Park Foundation
(202) 354-6480

SOURCE National Park Foundation

Mark Shields, National Park Foundation, +1-202-354-6480,
mshields@nationalparks.org