Official nonprofit partner of @GreatSmokyNPS & @NatlParkService since 1993. Friends of the Smokies has raised more than $100 million to fund thousands of projects in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! While the National Park Service is charged with taking care of the core needs of the park's natural, cultural, and visitor resources, Friends of the Smokies helps the park do even more, catalyzing efforts to study, protect, and restore our cultural and natural heritage; expanding programs that benefit schoolchildren in surrounding communities; improving opportunities for safe recreation in the backcountry; and acting on other timely opportunities to preserve and protect the Great Smoky Mountains. Working together, we make the Smokies even greater. Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park assists the National Park Service in its mission to preserve and protect Great Smoky Mountains National Park by raising funds and public awareness, and providing volunteers for needed projects.