Outdoor Outreach

The outdoors are a powerful source of healing. Instructors like Vinny, Hannah, Zach and Sunny help youth facing overwhelming obstacles discover their strengths and explore what’s possible beyond the current moment. There are 1,000 youth in San Diego, dealing with new challenges and hard decisions, who need role models like Vinny, Hannah, Zach, and Sunny in 2021. And we can’t reach them without your help. Today is the LAST day to help us reach our $50,000 fundraising goal before midnight. If you’re in the position to give, any amount counts and will help us reach youth in 2021! Give today at https://donate.outdooroutreach.org/give/314375/.

Looking back over this year, we remember all of the hardships and changes we've had to face. All of the tough questions that we've had to ask ourselves. It's been a year that has challenged us all, but we're so grateful for the ongoing support from our community. Support that allows us to continue to bring possibility and hope to so many youth in San Diego. So, from our team to you, thank you! P.S. Enjoy this special sing-a-long from Lead the Way this fall. P.P.S. Please consider making a gift today! donate.outdooroutreach.org/possibility

"His story highlighted the most important part of our impact to me: helping young people realize the power of choice and providing them with tools to make good decisions." - Sunny Chang The outdoors are a powerful source of healing. Each year, our instructors help youth facing overwhelming obstacles explore what’s possible. In 2020, that work has become more important than ever. Sunny Chang is one of those instructors. In more than 14 years with Outdoor Outreach, she’s opene...d up a world of possibility for thousands of young people and as you’d expect, they’ve had a deep impact on her, too. Check out more of Sunny's story, below. We need your help to connect 1,000 youth facing overwhelming obstacles and hard decisions with life-changing role models like Sunny in 2021. If you are in the position to give this year, any amount makes a difference and will get us closer to our $50,000 goal by December 31st. Thank you! donate.outdooroutreach.org/possibility

This year has been challenging for all of us. For young people already dealing with poverty, substance abuse, and neighborhood violence, those challenges have been especially profound. Hannah and Zach, two instructors who lead our partnership with the San Diego County Probation Department, are helping teens connect to new opportunities, and see the possibility in the outdoors. ... Will you help us raise $50,000 by December 31, so that instructors like Hannah and Zach can continue to help young people find healing and possibility in the outdoors next year? Give today at donate.outdooroutreach.org/possibility.

#FlashbackFriday to our favorite winter sport! Photos are from January 2020 programs. It’s critical to #recreateresponsibly right now, so we’re limiting our programs to single-household groups and sticking close to home for now. How are you getting outside safely this winter?

Join us to learn about Outdoor Outreach's mission to connect youth to the transformative power of the outdoors, and engage in encouraging dialogue on how we all can become better advocates for access to the outdoors. Together, we will celebrate diversity outside!

Outdoor Outreach Senior Director of Programs Lesford Duncan was part of a special project filmed by Wondercamp and the The Outbound Collective and sponsored by HOKA ONE ONE a few weeks ago. Here's a sneak peek! Can't wait to share more on this project, so stay tuned for the full video to come!

Do you know how old a Joshua Tree really is? Can you guess which state is comparable in size to Joshua Tree National Park? Come along for an adventure into this popular National Park as we explore these and so many other questions in our series with Joshua Tree National Park. Watch part two: "Ways to Enjoy Joshua Tree" from our three-part series, below. Let's go!

In case you missed it: Our Senior Director of Programs Lesford Duncan was part of a policy panel discussion on Equitable Access & Outdoor Advocacy Wins at California Outdoor Recreation Partnership’s virtual Sacramento Summit earlier this month with Eric Raymond, Marc Berejka, Jaymee Go, and Alfredo Gonzalez. Special thanks to Outdoor Industry Association and Outdoor Alliance for the additional support. Watch the full panel below!

"I used to think that as long as I was getting good grades, and had a roof over my head and food, then how I felt didn't matter. That’s just how I was raised. But the Outdoor Outreach Leadership Program helped me learn more about my mental health. My instructors Chris and Mario taught me that I need to take care of myself." - Flo, 2020 Leadership Program Graduate Did you catch Flo's story at Lead the Way last week? In case you missed it, you can watch the whole story below!

We're so proud to announce our Joshua Tree video series! Created in partnership with Joshua Tree National Park, this series highlights all of our favorite things about the park and the ways that we at Outdoor Outreach enjoy it each year. Due to pandemic restrictions, our overnight climbing trips to the park have been canceled for 2020, so instead, our instructors and the Joshua Tree rangers are bringing you a three-part video series exploring what you need to know for your first trip to the park, what activities are available once you're there, and how to get or stay involved in the National Park System after your visit is over! You can start the series with our first video, Your First Trip to Joshua Tree, here: https://youtu.be/mNJqhR8pLow

Now through December, our programs are FREE and open to ANY youth in San Diego! After school and weekend programs are available for youth ages 5 - 24 to mountain bike, paddleboard, hike, kayak, and more! Adventure with us, and create friendships, build a strong community, and develop leadership skills for all of life’s explorations. This program is made possible with funding from the County of San Diego and in partnership with Palomar Family Counseling Service, San Diego Youth Services and South Bay Community Services. Questions? Visit outdooroutreach.org/outandaboutsd to learn more and register today!

If you missed ANY of Lead the Way last week, the full video is ready to watch, below! We highly recommend checking out 20:19 to watch Florentine's story, 39:40 to hear from some of our good friends, or 33:25 to see who our Lead the Way award went to this year! Then, check out our live appeal at the end of the show, where we got SO CLOSE TO OUR GOAL of raising $100,000. We lost a lot of you during the livestream just before the live appeal and evo is still matching gifts! Will you help us raise an additional $1,936 right now? You can give here: https://one.bidpal.net/.../browse/donation(details:item/1). Happy trails!

Lead the Way might be over, but the joy we’re feeling from the support and love from our community will be with us for a long time! Thank you to everyone who tuned in or made a gift and THANK YOU to everyone who stuck it out through the technical difficulties. We’re pulling together the final video for you and will share that soon! In the meantime, we are SO CLOSE TO OUR GOAL of raising $100,000. We lost a lot of you just before the live appealand evo is still matching gifts! Will you help us raise an additional $4,606 right now? Make your gift to support San Diego youth here: https://one.bidpal.net/leadtheway//donation(details:item/1)

Lead the Way is going LIVE tonight at 5PM PDT. Come cheer on our hosts, Tati and Vinny, and the rest of our youth speakers and guests! You can watch on Facebook Live here: facebook.com/outdooroutreach.org/live OR on Youtube Live here: https://youtu.be/qY_AbokY7RY... We can’t wait to see you there!

Our annual fundraiser, Lead the Way, is all about celebrating outdoor leadership and reminding folks why we do what we do at Outdoor Outreach. This year, we invited some of our closest friends and supporters to share what being outside means to them. Here's a sneak peek at what they had to say... Tune in this Thursday October 8 at 5 p.m. for the full video. Register now at bidpal.net/leadtheway. We can't wait to see you there!

This fall, in partnership with South Bay Community Services, San Diego Youth Services, and Palomar Family Counseling Service, Inc. youth and young adults ages 5 to 25 from anywhere in San Diego County can ADVENTURE WITH US, exploring the outdoors while safely creating friendships, building community, and developing leadership skills for all of life’s explorations. This program is FREE and made possible with funding from the County of San Diego - Government. *Please note that attendance is limited to one engagement per youth over the course of this time limited series.* Interested? Registration is currently open here: outdooroutreach.org/outandaboutsd.

Join Outdoor Outreach Field Instructor and Leadership Program Graduate Santos Plaza, and Director of Programs Lesford Duncan for a community conversation about equitable access to parks and safe outdoor spaces in the San Diego region at Voice of San Diego’s Politifest Virtual Summit. Speakers will discuss findings from new research conducted by The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego and The San Diego Foundation’s Parks for Everyone 2020 report, including equity barriers and benefits of green space for children and families. Saturday, October 3 at 12 p.m. PDT. Register NOW at https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/politifest/