Photo by Lisa Oellette
One winter, while driving a bus full of kids from Sacramento toward Lake Tahoe, ICO (Inspiring Connections Outdoors) trip leader Valerie Eviner (above) made a short stop in a high-elevation parking lot to stretch after the long ride. Most of the participating kids had never seen snow before, and in moments they were all bouncing and rolling in the snowbanks by the lot. Eviner couldn’t believe it. “And this was the gross parking lot snow!”
ICO, in Eviner’s words, gives youth from traditionally marginalized backgrounds “a chance to be a kid, to have that joy.” Something as simple as the chance to play in the snow, and have unlimited snowball fights, provides relief from the stresses of their lives. “They don’t get a chance to be kids very much, to let loose,” says Eviner. “It’s joy for those who need joy in their lives.” During trips to the beach, she remembers watching kids run straight into the ocean with all their clothes on, so excited that they didn’t wait to change.
ICO trips also have educational value for those who don’t have access to nature as a daily experience. “Those of us who have easy access to the outdoors take for granted what people do or don’t know about nature," she says. "Many of the kids on ICO trips don’t understand where food or water comes from, with no experience of the wider world beyond their neighborhoods. Some children grow up thinking that pumpkins come from parking lots."
Being with the kids is “a joy,” says Eviner. “It’s like seeing nature again for the first time, yourself.” Eviner admits that she finds it hard to say goodbye at the end of the day, when some children say that they’d rather go home with her than leave. “I drive away, pull over, and cry,” she confides. “The level of improvement they need – we can only scratch the surface.”
Eviner would like to expand the reach of the Sacramento ICO, to take kids out more regularly, building their confidence and interest in outdoor exercise. “We have an amazing group of volunteers and leaders,” says Eviner, but “the potential need for volunteers is unlimited.”
“I’d love to see more Sierra Club members say, ‘Oh, I’d like to do that,’” says Eviner. “Just a few times a year can make it possible.”
If you’re interested in making trips like these possible, come learn more about Inspiring Connections Outdoors, find a group near you, or start your own!