On Saturday, April 30th, Sierra Club, Team River Runner, and Team Red, White, & Blue came together for the very first Sierra Club’s Military Outdoors Outing in the Southeastern United States. Twenty eight men and women gathered for an “Intro to Kayaking Day” at beautiful Lake Lanier in Cumming, Georgia. It was a typical sunny, but possibly rainy spring day in Georgia. This was the first outing to introduce people to this new military outdoors initiative in the Southeast.
There was an ensemble of military veterans, active reservists, military spouses, and volunteers all gathered to learn the basics of kayaking; including guest and staff from Hire Heroes USA, and local Atlanta organization, Veterans Empowerment Organization. The weather kept as folks excitingly got to learn the basics of handling a kayak. Folks had a chance to bond with service members, veterans, military family members and amazing volunteers.
Pete Johnson, a Sierra Club Outings Leader and Army Veteran was highly excited for the day and one of first participants to arrive that morning at Lake Lanier. He’s an experienced kayaker and instructor, and I had the pleasure of getting one-on-one lesson from him. I learned basic paddle strokes, rolling techniques, and how exit out your kayak if trapped underwater.
Team River Runner has a team of several military veteran kayaking instructors who all found peace out and meaning being out on the water. They gave our guest thorough one-on-one attention and flawless instruction. The Team River Runner Atlanta’s lead volunteer, Ms. Laura Dillion and Team Red, White, and Blue Mr. Patrick Griffith were instrumental in helping the Sierra Club organize Georgia’s first military outdoors outing.
This is the type of collective impact that the Sierra Club, in conjunction with amazing partner organization’s hopes to continue to have on the local community and expand it throughout the Southeast. This is only the first step to bringing military and civilians together to reap the benefits of the great outdoors.
“It was very nice meeting you all...we had a fantastic time hanging out on the water with you all. I’m looking forward to future events.” –Felixsha Abram-Veteran's Empowerment Organization
