WORLAND - According to the National Park Service, in 2017, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park saw a combined 7.4 million visitors. While that's roughly eight times the population of the Equality State, it all makes perfect sense why millions want to visit each year.

Grand Teton and Yellowstone offer so much in terms of wildlife, geological wonders and natural scenic beauty, just to name a few. But with so many visitors and the staffs at both parks giving it their all to keep to their preservation mission, waste reduction is a huge focus for not only each park, but throughout the National Park System. It takes a lot of time, effort and money to keep the parks as pristine as possible.

This is why the National Park Foundation (NPF) and Subaru have partnered together, with the Subaru Share the Love Event, to help with the task of waste reduction and public awareness efforts in the National Park System.

To date, the Subaru Share the Love Event has raised over $7 million for national parks, with 2017 proceeds enabling the NPF to contribute nearly $2 million to waste reduction and public awareness.

Funding has allowed for increased focus on visitor education and engagement via social media and community outreach. It will also support increased recycling infrastructure, as well as removal of old trash bin infrastructure and updated signage throughout heavily trafficked areas of Grand Teton National Park," said Stefanie Mathew, vice president of corporate partnerships at the National Park Foundation.

As part of this year's Subaru Share the Love Event, for every new Subaru vehicle purchased or leased, Subaru will donate $250 to the purchaser's choice of participating charitable partners, and the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, will receive $250 each time a customer selects it as the nonprofit of choice during the event period.

"The Subaru Share the Love Event offers tremendous support to our national parks," said National Park Foundation President Will Shafroth. "It raises awareness about the important role philanthropy plays in our national parks community and provides funding to help ensure that our parks are sustainable and can thrive for years to come."

Not only does the money raised during Subaru's Share the Love Event help waste reduction and spread public awareness, it also helps develop new methods and practices for parks throughout the National Park System. What's being tried out in Grand Teton could possibly help the Yosemite or Grand Canyon parks.

"Subaru and the National Park Foundation are working with the National Park Service to expand lessons learned from the current pilot program to support waste reduction and improved visitor experience across the National Park System. This includes conducting a comprehensive service-wide study of concessions' waste operations and exploring hosting workshops to help additional parks develop solid waste reduction plans," said Mathew.

The National Park Foundation has partnered with the Subaru Share the Love Event for five years. And as both groups are as passionate as they come about our National Parks, they've taken the partnership a step further with the creation of Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque.

Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque helps people find the closest national parks to them and details all that each park has to offer. Whether that be through a number of outdoor activities like hiking, biking, camping, fishing, climbing or the historical significance of each park, Find Your Park allows for those to learn as much as possible about a park before planning a visit.

"Subaru and the National Park Foundation connected over our shared love for national parks and in 2013 NPF was selected as a partner for the Subaru Share the Love Event. Subaru aims to support causes that resonate with their customers and their brand, and the National Park Foundation was a natural fit in this work.

"From there, we expanded our fantastic partnership through Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque, a public awareness and education movement to inspire people from all backgrounds to connect with, celebrate, and support America's national parks and community-based programs," said Mathew. "We are honored to be partnering with Subaru for the sixth year in a row for the Share the Love Event."

Again this year, there will be no cap on the total donation from Subaru to its charitable partners. By the end of this year's event, on January 2, Subaru and its retailers hope to exceed a grand total of $140 million donated since the creation of the Subaru Share the Love Event.

For more information about the Subaru Share the Love Event, please visit http://www.subaru.com/share.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION

Celebrating 50 years, the National Park Foundation is the official charity of America's national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help protect more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts, connect all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture and rich history, and engage the next generation of park stewards. In 2016, commemorating the National Park Service's 100th anniversary, the Foundation launched The Centennial Campaign for America's National Parks, a comprehensive fundraising campaign to strengthen and enhance the future of these national treasures for the next hundred years.  Find out more and become a part of the national park community at http://www.nationalparks.org.

ABOUT SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. 

Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Subaru Corporation of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Camden, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 630 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. SOA is guided by the Subaru Love Promise, which is the company's vision to show love and respect to everyone, and to support its communities and customers nationwide. Over the past 20 years, SOA has donated more than $120 million to causes the Subaru family cares about, and its employees have logged more than 40,000 volunteer hours. As a company, Subaru believes it is important to do its part in making a positive impact in the world because it is the right thing to do.