Rhode Island awards “Take It Outside” grant to Casey Farm

Historic New England wins a $30,000 grant to expand outdoor programming at Casey Farm in Saunderstown, Rhode Island.

The funding supports the expansion of outdoor markets and youth education programs. Casey Farm will add two holiday markets, in November and December, and reconfigure some of its youth education programs to work outdoors.

The two holiday markets are on Sundays, November 22 and December 13, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Locally grown and prepared foods and locally crafted gifts are for sale. Specialty items from the Historic New England’s farms in Rhode Island include Casey Farm organic vegetables like onions, winter squash, and cooking greens and Rhody Warm wool blankets from the sheep at Watson Farm.

The outdoor education programs are a series of short outdoor programs for preschoolers and their parents. Each week, children will play games, have storytelling time, make crafts, visit farm animals, and spend time discovering things at the farm. Families can register for these programs through the recreation programs at the towns of South Kingstown and East Greenwich.

About the Take It Outside grant program

This is the second round of Take It Outside grants and totals more than $3.1 million in awards to help businesses increase outdoor activity while reducing the transmission rate of COVID-19. “This second round of grants represents an investment in the Rhode Island organizations that have thought outside the box to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This new funding will help our businesses, communities, and nonprofits in finding even more ways to Take It Outside,” said Governor Gina M. Raimondo in a press release. “We are grateful to every business owner working to keep their customers and staff safe and healthy, and we’re going to continue to support them at every step of the way.”