By Judy Mattox
Wenoca Group Chair
The Asheville Inspiring Connections Outdoors program, affectionately known as "Kids to the Country," is off with a bang! Our first outing was on June 23 with seven kids and eight adults.
Inspiring Connections Outdoors is a program of the national Sierra Club. The club's 50 volunteer-run ICO groups nationwide conduct more than 900 outings for about 14,000 participants each year. By introducing participants to the transformative power of nature, ICO serves a key function within the Sierra Club and supports John Muir's belief that people who experience wilderness firsthand are much more likely to preserve it.
The program's goals are to:
- Actively engage people in the outdoors through outdoor activities such as backpacking, car camping, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, rafting, service projects, skating, skiing and sledding;
- Promote appreciation and protection of the natural environment through outdoor adventures and environmental education; and
- Create opportunities through outdoor experiences for personal growth and life style change, outdoor skills and leadership development, and foster respect of self, others and the environment.
In Asheville, the Wenoca Group's ICO program is led by five ICO leaders, three Sierra Club volunteers, five community volunteers from our partners and two community mothers.
Our partners are the Unitarian Congregation of Asheville, the Asheville housing authority, Asheville City Schools, Hillcrest community and MotherRead, a program of the Unitarian Congregation and Hillcrest Community.
We have scheduled an outing every two weeks during the summer on a Friday morning. June 23 was a trip to the Blue Ridge Visitor Center where JD Diefenbach introduced our young people to the junior forest ranger program, and Joanne Lazar led a one-mile hike.
On July 7, we'll take a trip to Carl Sandburg National Park and goat farm. July 21 will see us on a trip to the Asheville North Carolina Arboretum. A blueberry picking trip is planned for Aug. 4, follwed by a trip to the Warren Wilson College animal farm and garden on Aug. 18. Evaluations will take place to decide whether to continue our program into the upcoming school year.
Leading and organizing for our first outing has been a group effort. Beth Pape is our ICO leader. Judy Mattox and Beth Pape have been meeting once a week for months with our partners and were also responsible for equipment. Marta Alcala-Williams of Asheville City Schools led the group in creating agreements to live by. Beth Pape was responsible for providing Asheville City School lunches and snacks. Nikita Smart was our van driver/staff person from the Housing Authority who provided referrals of students.
For further information about the Inspiring Connections Outdoors program in Asheville, contact Beth Pape, adwoman123@yahoo.com, 978-729-3356.