Volunteering

The main purpose of me keeping this journal that you enjoy so much is to raise money for Big City Mountaineers, a non-profit that gives at-risk youth life-changing experiences in the wilderness. Here in San Diego, there is another non-profit group called Inner City Outings that works out of the Sierra Club taking different groups of kids on all types of outdoor trips.
I really believe in the impact and importance of giving kids these life-changing experiences that they don't have the chance of having on their own. On top of raising money , I want to be become involved in the same kinds of programs I'm raising money for so tonight I attended my first ICO meeting and have begun the process of becoming a Volunteer Assistant, and eventually after the required training, I will become a Trip Leader. I'll be volunteering on my first trip this February 7th to Mountain Palm Canyon, on a desert hike through palm oasises.
Some of the stories I heard at the volunteer meeting, about kids who've lived their entire lives in San Diego and've never been to the beach going into the ocean for the first time and yelling in surprise, "Its salty!", about kids who started out on a hike too cool to smile or look like they were having a good time and by the end of the trip laughing and interested in everything on the trail and asking "What kind of a job can I do where I ge to be outside all day?", these are the kinds of stories that prove I'm raising money for something that really works, and that motivate me to train and fundraise as hard as I can.