Welcome to the very first issue of our e-newsletter. In an effort to save trees and the expense of bulk mailing a quarterly newsletter, we are going to try sending out a monthly e-newsletter instead. It's always a huge challenge trying to cram all of the great things that are going on into quarterly newsletter. We're looking forward to the opportunity to share more of what's happening on a more frequent basis. Special thanks to Emma for donating the newsletter service and Morris Communications for helping with the set up.

 

4th Annual Climb-a-thon 

Our 4th Annual Climb-a-thon was held on April 8th at Vertical Hold Sport Climbing Center. With your help we raised close to $10,000 to help support our programs. Beginning and expert climbers from all over Southern California showed up to climb and help support the cause. Mario Covic and Neusa Silva were are top fundraisers this year, raising over $1400 in donations. Special thanks to all the great volunteers who helped organize the event, all of you who came out and participated and donated, and all of the great companies who sponsored the event. This year sponsors included: REI, Gramicci, Islands Restaraunts, Alero Technology, Gregory, Prana, The San Diego Padres, Eagle Creek, Clive, Journey Mexico, La Sportiva, Climbing Magazine, Rock and Ice Magazine, Mission Playground, Pacific Athletic Club, UC Cyclery, Jansport, Black Diamond, FoxFury, and SoBe.

 

Success Stories

The most special part of working for Outdoor Outreach are the individual success stories of the youth we get to witness every day.  These successes vary widely. It can be the instant sense of joy and pride beamed across a child’s face after catching their first wave or completing their first climb.  Or watching a kid come into the program with their eyes constantly fixed to the ground begin raise their head, smile, and connect with others. Even better, we get to see tangible results in their lives. Improved grades, reconnections with families, and goals set and achieved.

 

Jesse’s story

Jesse first came to Outdoor Outreach last winter on a snowboarding trip with one of our partners serving youth on probation. Jesse was an immediate natural and we brought him into our leadership program. For the last year Jesse has been working for us as a surf, snowboard, and rock climbing instructor. While Jesse has excelled in all of our activities it's on the snow where he really shines. He especially loves riding in the terrain park hitting airs, rails and the halfpipe. Check out this photo from a training ride a few weeks ago. He's amazing! None of us can believe he's only been riding for a year now. It's been inspiring to see Jesse's new found passion positively impact different areas of his life. After dropping out of High School, Jesse is now working on completing his GED and enrolling at San Diego City College. In fact, after a recent trip to Mammoth Mountain, Jesse has made it his goal to transfer to the community college at the base of the mountain and teach snowboarding to support himself through school. Besides being a great instructor on our trips, Jesse has been organizing his friends and taking them up to the local mountains and teaching them to ride. He's even got his family pumped up now, having taught his dad, brother, and sister to ride. Special thanks to the Junior League of San Diego who just awarded us a grant to help fund our Leadership Program and experiences like Jesse's.

   

Find out more about Juan's Story (under "Confessions")

Find out more about Stephen's Story (under "Confessions")

 

Juan Hererra Speaks

Youth leader Juan Hererra was asked to speak as part of a keynote panel for the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma’s annual Youth Violence Conference.  Juan shared his inspirational story about overcoming the obstacles of an abusive childhood.

 

More good news about Juan: Juan has officially graduated from the Outdoor Outreach Leadership Program and is now part of the senior staff serving as a trip leader for all Outdoor Outreach programs. 

 

Congratulations Juan! Find out more about Juan's Story (under "Confessions")

 

Athena Fund Grant Awarded

The Athena Fund of the Women's Foundation of California has awarded Outdoor Outreach with a grant of $1500 to start an outdoor program for young women transitioning out of the foster care system. We will be partnering with Mary’s House and YMCA’s Turning Point to develop the programming for the young women. Our first trip will be at the beginning of May and we’ll be conducting trips every other week through the summer. We’re really excited to be starting the new program and are looking for funding to keep the program going through the summer. If you’d like to help with this new project in any way please let us know.

 

 

 

Launch a 180 campaign

In an effort to grow the organization and make it sustainable we are making a concerted effort to seek corporate sponsors. We’ve just begun the Launch a 180 campaign to support this effort. Morris Communications has done an amazing job creating all of the collateral materials for the campaign pro bono and Sappi has generously paid for all of the material costs for the campaign. To see some of the amazing work Morris has done you can check out the Launch a 180 microsite. If you’re interested in receiveing one of the new brochures please contact us.

 

Trip Updates

Look for our next newsletter where we'll keep you posted on some of our recent trips to Mammoth and Joshua Tree and upcoming surf trips as our busy summer season approaches.