US: The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) announces the launch of its third annual EdGEOcation Giving Campaign, with the goal to raise funding and awareness for the Foundation’s K-12 educational outreach program. USGIF aims to generate $15,000 in donations by Jan. 11.
USGIF’s K-12 programming brings geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) awareness and interactive STEM education into classrooms as well as provides resources for teachers to integrate GEOINT with existing curricula. Contributors to the giving campaign further the education of the country’s future engineers, analysts, cartographers, data scientists, and beyond.
“As an educational nonprofit, USGIF’s mission is to provide GEOINT education for people of all ages, to include helping the younger generation prepare for future career choices,” said Lindsay Mitchell, the Foundation’s lead educational manager. “All proceeds from the giving campaign directly benefit K-12 students, and with the community’s contributions, USGIF will continue to develop lessons and classroom resources to ensure more students are introduced to the exciting field of geospatial intelligence.”
USGIF launched its first giving campaign in 2016 and has since raised nearly $25,000 for its K-12 initiatives, which include:
- Awarding scholarships to high school students
- Providing science fair prize money for high school competitions
- Printing “Portable Planet,” an interactive 35-by-26-foot map of North America that is now available for educational use at schools and community events
- Sharing USGIF’s “Introduction to GEOINT” presentation with 1,300 students and counting
- Welcoming Tampa area students to the GEOINT 2018 Symposium for a variety of STEM activities and career exploration opportunities.
Donations to USGIF’s EdGEOcation Giving Campaign may be made via PayPal, check, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), AmazonSmile, USGIF’s online transaction portal connect.usgif.org, onsite at USGIF events, and also by texting “GEOINT” to 27722 to automatically donate $5.
