A Message from the Founder

Today I am asking for your continued support in helping us provide the youth we serve with the support, relationships, resources and opportunities they need to become successful adults. Since our founding nine years ago, over 4,500 at-risk and underprivileged youth have had the opportunity to participate in our comprehensive outdoor programs.  Because of your help and support, no youth has ever paid to participate in our programs. 

The majority of youth served through Outdoor Outreach programs live in inner-city neighborhoods and experience high rates of substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, unintended teen pregnancy, gang activity and youth violence.  The schools we work in have drop-out rates over 50% and in the communities we serve up to 40% of residents live below the poverty threshold. It has been my greatest honor and privilege to witness so many of the youth from our programs overcome these challenges, working through the daily barriers and choosing their own unique successful path.

As you may know, 2008 has been an amazing year of growth and change for Outdoor Outreach.  With over 250 trips and 120 after-school program days, this year has been our most productive and impactful ever.  Despite continual growth since inception, the need for Outdoor Outreach programs outpaces our ability to provide services. Beyond the growth in program capacity we have made huge strides in building the infrastructure throughout the organization to ensure the most efficient and effective delivery of high impact programming possible. 

With the extreme challenges of today’s economy the youth we serve need help, now more than ever.  Your support will allow us to meet the growing needs of the most underserved youth in our community by continuing to grow the capacity, efficacy and impact of our programs. Please help us serve the at-risk and underprivileged youth of our community by making a generous tax-deductible contribution today by visiting us online at www.outdooroutreach.org.  Our success would not be possible without your support. An investment in Outdoor Outreach is a life-changing investment in the future of the youth who participate in our programs, as well as the communities in which they live.

2008 Joshua Tree Adventure

We held our second annual Joshua Tree Adventure fundraising event the weekend of October 4th-5th.  Participants raised over $40,000 from their friends and families to support Outdoor Outreach programming.  Special thanks to Kam Sengthong, our top earner, for raising $4,435!  Over 60 friends and supporters joined us as we were blessed with perfect weather inside Joshua Tree National Park.  We all had an amazing time as we spent the weekend climbing, hiking, camping, doing yoga and celebrating Outdoor Outreach.

 We have some fantastic pictures of the weekend.  To view participants' photo albums click here.

If you’re interested in purchasing additional Outdoor Outreach t-shirts for friends and family or if you want to own more than one, they are available for $25. Please contact Teri at teri@outdooroutreach.org.

My name is Alondra Galvan and I am eighteen years old and a participant of Outdoor Outreach’s Adventure Club at Lincoln High School for three years. Outdoor Outreach has changed me in many ways. It has inspired me to love the outdoors and what they have to offer. Before Outdoor Outreach I didn’t care about our environment or nature. I used to litter and throw everything in the streets, disrespecting Mother Nature.  While in Outdoor Outreach I learned how to rock climb, snowboard, and surf.  I fell in love with these outdoor sports right away. While learning these sports I also learned to care for what is rightfully ours, to make the outdoors useful and healthy. Outdoor Outreach also taught me to eat healthy and to use the outdoors like a free gym membership.  I really thank Outdoor Outreach for everything they have taught me and for helping me to become a better person. 

I wanted to continue my involvement with Outdoor Outreach, so after graduating from Lincoln last spring, I have been working with other graduates of the Adventure Club to create an Alumni Club.  We have 5 members currently and have gone on two fun trips:  surfing and mountain biking, with help from the Outdoor Outreach staff.  We have also arranged a trip to Torrey Pines ourselves.  We look forward to continuing to develop the Alumni Club and bring on more participants after they have graduated from high school.

Outdoor Outreach goes Green

With the help of Veg Powered Systems, Outdoor Outreach recently converted a 15-passenger diesel van to run on Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO).  The conversion will not only save Outdoor Outreach close to $5,000 a year in fuel costs, but also serve as an educational tool to inspire the youth we serve to learn more about their impact on the environment and help our programs create lifelong stewards of the environment.  Local San Diego restaurants 'like Sushi Itto'  have generously donated the used vegetable oil from their deep-fryers to Outdoor Outreach.  Flour, water, and other impurities are then filtered out before the oil can be used for fuel.  The filtered oil is stored in a 275 gallon container which was donated by Buck Petroleum Company.
 
According to the US Energy Information Administration Americans use 390 million gallons of gasoline each day!  Converting the van to run on WVO saves Outdoor Outreach approximately 132 gallons a month or 1500 gallons of gas a year!  WVO emissions contain no sulfur dioxide, which is the main carcinogen in Diesel gas.  Additionally WVO produces 78% less carbon dioxide, the dominant greenhouse gas responsible for global warming; 48% less carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas; 48% less asthma-causing particulate matter; and 80% less cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons  than petroleum diesel.  Because WVO originates from plants, the impact to the environment is greatly reduced when compared to fossil fuels. 

Special thanks to Las Patronas, The Coronado Rotary Club, and Jimbo’s for making grants to fund the purchase and conversion of the vehicle.  We’d also like to thank Miki Iwasaki from Mi-workshop for designing the graphic wrap for the van.

We're having a fantastic fall season, filled with fun and adventure.  Check out some of the great pictures. 

         Outdoor Outreach              Gift Wrapping

Outdoor Outreach would like to thank Deltyme for their generous donation of IT support.  They have made it  easy to keep the organization running smoothly.

DELTYME offers responsive, courteous, affordable, and reliable computer network and IT services to small/medium businesses in San Diego.  We are your complete solution for all of your office computing needs.  Call (858) 483-0497 or email John Olinger,  jcolinger@deltyme.com, to find out how we can help your business.

Help us preserve the environment and raise funds by collecting used printer cartridges and cell phones for Outdoor Outreach to recycle. If you work for a business that creates a lot of technological waste, we can create a partnership. 

Interested? Contact: justin@outdooroutreach.org

Here at Outdoor Outreach, we are 100% committed to working with at-risk and underprivileged youth... Youth who, otherwise, would never have the opportunity to experience the outdoors.  We are very proud of the fact that no youth has ever paid for any of our programming. This is made possible only through the support of our many generous donors. We'd like to acknowledge recent grants made by the following contributors over the past season:
  

Stephenson Pope Babcock Foundation