Danielle Leitao
“You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.”
- Dr. Suess, Oh The Places We’ll Go
Summer at The Mountaineers is the best! The kids are excited to be out of school and we’re able to take hiking trips in the middle of the week. In the last few weeks, we drove 14 youth to Heybrook Lookout with our Rock the Park (RTP) Mountain Workshop where we experienced an enjoyable day hike, talked about the history of the lookout, practiced our navigation skills, and we took a second RTP group to hike by Rattlesnake Lake and learn about the Cedar River Watershed.
What I love about working with RTP and other Mountain Workshop programs is witnessing the moments of awe outdoors. When we travel out of our urban spaces and up to the high heights of a nearby mountain (maybe for the first time), the pride of achievement and giggles of joy at the top are palpable. While we’ve been successful in providing over 2,600 youth with outdoor experiences this year, transportation remains one of our greatest barriers, as well as expenses related to traveling to these locations.
Two weeks ago you received an email seeking community support to secure a 15-passenger van for our Youth Education Programs. Our hope is that by acquiring a van of our own, we will drastically reduce the need to rent busses or request that volunteers drive our youth to the trailhead. The dollars saved by owning our own van will be reinvested to support getting more kids outside more often, through scholarships and increased outdoor opportunities.
Please help us make our van dreams come true.
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P.S. Thanks to Mountaineers donors and volunteers, we are just over halfway to our $28,000 goal. Would you join me in making a gift in support of this effort? |
