Middletown businessman serving on National Parks Foundation board

National Parks an “experience that too many people are missing,” Hightower says.


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Stephen Hightower, president and chief executive officer of Middletown fuel distributing company Hightowers Petroleum, is also a board member of the National Parks Foundation. He’s helping raise awareness about the national parks, as well as raising funds for the “Every Kid in a Park” effort, in particular for underserved black, Hispanic and Appalachian youth.

  • To donate or contact Hightower, email: steve@hightowerspetroleum.com
  • Or, go online to www.nationalparks.org
  • Contact the national parks office at 202-796-2516 and ask about the 1 million underserved youth in the parks

Local people would know that Stephen Hightower, president and chief executive officer of Middletown fuel distributing company Hightowers Petroleum Co., serves on the National Petroleum Council.

But what’s maybe not as widely known is Hightower is also a board member of the National Park Foundation, which, in partnership with the National Park Service, is marking its centennial anniversary in 2016 with a new effort to raise funds and awareness.

Hightower told us about what he’s learned about the nation’s more than 400 national park areas since getting involved, and about a special effort he’s spearheading to get underserved youth access to these “treasures.”

Q: Tell me about your role on the board of the National Park Foundation.

A: In "November 2012, I was appointed by the Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar and confirmed by the President, Obama, to sit and serve on the National Park Foundation board.

“It really began my initial exposure. Our board meetings are at parks throughout the nation. That’s how I began to actually see the parks and what an asset America actually had that I’d never been exposed to.

“One of the additional things I began to see is many African Americans are not in the parks and many of the younger Millennials are not in the parks, and what can be done to change that over the next 20-25 years.

“We’re at out 100 years, and seeing that there’s just a lack of exposure to the underserved populations of the national parks.

“The way I believe we’re able to address that is actually getting them into the parks. There is a broader initiative of ‘Every Kid in a Park’ for the centennial campaign and as a subset, I am focused on having the underserved youth of America get in the parks. The way I think we can do that is we’re targeting the fourth graders and we’re looking to get 1 million African American, Hispanic and Appalachian youth… to get them engaged and exposed to the parks.”

Q: What is the responsibility of the foundation?

A: "The foundation was set up by Congress and it's not to support and raise money for roads and buildings and gas and electric and normal operating expenses. It's a nonprofit and it's there to drive awareness… and to do things the government would not do. It's a very private-sector driven, bipartisan group of individuals who have a love for the parks in many different ways and categories and have the ability to come together for a $235 million campaign for the centennial.

“We’ve already raised about $85 million of the $235 million we have embarked on, which has been a great start and I’m just certain there are people who care about our parks, but more importantly, there are people who care about our kids and our communities being exposed to the parks. That’s where my efforts and my focus has been…”

Q: Why did you agree to be on the board and why do you think the parks are important?

A: "I was initially just part of an event that the foundation had given and they subsequently asked me to be a sponsor for a breakfast for the African American Experience Fund.

“(I) was very intrigued about how deep the national monuments and the things the national parks, the treasures they actually manage for America and they subsequently began talking to me… about becoming a part of the board.

“Having done my research… I decided I would give it a shot.”

Q: What have you learned about the parks since joining the board?

A: "I went my entire life and so did my family not having seen or visited the parks. There's so much around us, right here in America, that we don't know, that we should know about. It's just amazing. When you see things like Zion National Park and Yellowstone National Park and even look at things closer such as Smoky Mountains, it's really, really beyond anyone's imagination how beautiful American really is."

Q: What are the next steps for the campaign and have you made a commitment?

A: "I have made a personal commitment to raise an additional $10 million inclusive of my personal (financial) commitment to get at least 1 million underserved youth in the parks.

“…There’s about (nearly) 300 million visitors annually that goes to the parks, which is more than all of Disney, the NFL games, the NBA games, as well as Major League Baseball, all combined. And it’s a very inexpensive, enlightening experience that too many people are missing in America.”

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