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Dear Friends of the Camping & Education Foundation,
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Many of you are familiar with our Urban Wilderness Program. For those who are not, the Foundation’s Urban Wilderness Program was launched 10 years ago with the expressed purpose of bringing the magic of what we do in the Northwoods to an urban environment. The experiment was straightforward: do kids have to travel all the way to the Canadian wilderness to have an impactful experience? Trips down the English and the Bloodvein are the ultimate experience, but realistically, many kids will never get that chance. Can we flip that script? Ten years later, our experiment is thriving. For 10 months out of the year our Urban Wilderness staff engages kids of all ages in outdoor and hands-on experiences that are impactful, empowering and fun. I’m biased, but our staff —Trace Dunning, Luke Dunning, Kyle Oblong and Kyle Siebert—is awesome. The teachers in our partner schools marvel at their commitment and the passion they show up with every day.
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On a day-to-day basis, the program is rich. At any given moment, we are working in a variety of schools, teaching kids how to build a handmade canoe from scratch, and reinforcing STEM-based learning that teachers struggle with applying practically. Hundreds of kids get out on the local waterways of Cincinnati to experience first hand the pride in their craftsmanship and learn the way of the woods—real skills like fire building, open fire cooking, and fire by friction—as well as being comfortable in the outdoors.
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Here are a few recent projects that UWP has been engaged in… Caged Crow Customs, led by master welder Josh Cage, just put the final touches on our new Mobile Makerspace. Based in St. Germain, Wisconsin, Caged Crow is a custom shop that specializes in food trucks, shipping container conversions and concession trailers. Over the course of 18 months, Josh and his wife, Chelesa, fabricated every part of the 22-foot mobile trailer, which will not only serve as our roaming shop but give us the flexibility to reach more kids. Trace and crew are already brainstorming on the many uses for the space; Luke’s imagination is running wild! Check out a short video here.
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Once every two years, the Boy Scouts of America gather near the banks of the Little Miami River to attend an event known as Peterloon. Running since 1927, Peterloon is the longest active “Camporee.” Earlier this month, Urban Wilderness participated in the daylong event, building a canoe for the National Park Service and demonstrating all aspects of the canoe build with approximately 1,600 scouts. It was a busy day for sure!
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Mike Walsh and his team at Unbridled Media wrapped a video shoot for Urban Wilderness. Mike is a long time Kooch-i-ching alum and signed on pre-COVID to create new promotional tools for the entire organization. COVID and the historic flooding this summer postponed our camp shoots until next year, but we were able to kickstart things here in Cincinnati. We cannot wait to see the magic that Mike and his team develop!
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To learn more about our Urban Wilderness Program, please visit our website at urbanwildernessprogram.org or contact Trace Dunning at trace@campingedu.org. Trace would love to hear from you, whether you know of a school partner you think would be a good fit, you would like to help out or just learn more.
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Recruiting is in full swing. Johanna and JR continue to hit the recruiting trail and our camper sign-ups for next season speak to their tireless efforts. They are in Minneapolis on October 25, Kansas City on October 26, then on the east coast with stops in Washington, DC, Boston and New York City on November 8, 9 and 10.
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Donna Brown, our intrepid CFO, has officially retired after 23 years of dedicated service. In an organization that prides itself on doing whatever it takes, Donna embodied this ethic (and she wasn’t even a camper!). Please join all of us and wish Donna only the best in her retirement. We know she will enjoy having an abundance of free time, something she did without for many, many years.
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Have a wonderful fall season in your neck of the great outdoors. Seek the joy! —Hugh
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