The Nutro Company, a manufacturer of natural petfood products, is teaming up with country singer Sara Evans to encourage dog owners nationwide to apply for grant support to help enhance their local dog parks during the third annual ROOM TO RUN dog park appreciation project.

ROOM TO RUN, now in its third year, is a community program designed to support public, nonprofit dog parks and off-leash areas and encourage greater community engagement. Grant application forms are available on the ROOM TO RUN grant website with a September 31 deadline to apply. Grants of US$2,000 will be awarded on a rolling basis through October to 30 dog parks across the US to help fund enhancement efforts in public, nonprofit dog parks.

Dog park enhancements may include:

•General repairs and maintenance (e.g., painting benches, repairing fences)
•Installation of new agility equipment
•Landscaping
•Updates to water system
•Creation of a poop bag center

The Nutro Company's ROOM TO RUN associate board will review the grant applications and select parks that exhibit the greatest need, as well as meet other criteria listed on the project's website.

"As a proud dog owner, I'm excited to help The Nutro Company kick off the third annual event and to help spread the word to dog lovers around the country," said Sara Evans. "Our dog Roman is like a member of our family, and I know many people feel the same way about their own dogs. I support the ROOM TO RUNâ„¢ effort to give dogs and their owners an enhanced place to play and bond."