"What I like about the camping trip was the freedom of the wilderness. I like the silence of nature and I thought I'd never say this, but I sort of like the hiking too." --13 year old participant
Inner City Outings (ICO) is a community outreach program of the Sierra Club that provides low-income, inner city youth with trips to wilderness. The Sierra Club San Francisco Bay chapter established the first ICO group in 1971. Today, a dedicated core of volunteer leaders located in approximately 50 cities across the United States and Canada work with local social service agencies and schools to provide wilderness experiences for people who otherwise might not have them.
With the guidance of ICO volunteer leaders, participants discover the beauty of wild lands and how to enjoy these places without harming them. Young people learn valuable survival skills and develop the ability to face challenges outside their urban environments. Interpersonal skills and self-esteem grow as a natural result of teamwork and an active relationship with the outdoors.
Sierra Club ICO volunteers are certified and trained in recreational, outdoor, and safety skills as well as environmental education. ICO leaders enable youth of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, hearing or visually impaired, and the physically disabled to backpack, participate in neighborhood cleanups and/or naturalist-led hikes through local marshes and meadows. ICO volunteer leaders introduce all people to the natural world.
To preserve and protect the wilderness for future generations, it is vital that the environmental community engages people of wide-ranging ethnicities, cultures, and abilities. The Sierra Club, through the Inner City Outings program, hopes to infuse the environmental community with the power of diversity.
If interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities with South Jersey ICO, please contact Joy Booth, volunteer coordinator or click here to get involved.