A large portion of the money raised earlier this year by The Principal Charity Classic golf tournament will be used to send 39,000 additional Greater Des Moines elementary students on field trips beginning next fall.



Officials from the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation and Bravo Greater Des Moines announced the new program, called Connecting Kids and Culture, at a press conference Monday night at the Science Center of Iowa. Fifteen school districts in Polk and Dallas counties, as well as private and parochial schools, will receive transportation funds and curricula to send kindergarteners through fifth-graders on field trips to 14 cultural venues, among them the Science Center of Iowa, Blank Park Zoo and the Des Moines Art Center. Also taking part in the program are the Des Moines Symphony, Des Moines Metro Opera, Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, Living History Farms, Des Moines Botanical Center, the State Historical Society, Des Moines Playhouse, Salisbury House Foundation, Terrace Hill Foundation, Metro Arts Alliance and Iowa Hall of Pride.



“The funding from this event gives us a chance to tackle an issue we thought was impacting both our kids and our cultural organizations,” said Johnny Danos, president of the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation. Districts have often cited lack of transportation funds as a “deal-breaker” in getting students to cultural events, he said.



Bravo and the Community Foundation will each use $110,000 in funding they received from the golf tournament, which in August raised $575,000 for five children’s charities in Greater Des Moines. The program also received a $75,000 gift from Kenneth and Helen MacDonald through the Community Foundation.



“I’ve had superintendents tell me they’ve had to cut field trips,” said Jan Drees, who will coordinate curriculum development for the Connecting Kids program. “They’re very excited they can provide field trips once again.”