|
Dear Friend: Phew! What a year of headwinds this has been! Red Canoe Foundation set a lofty goal in 2020 to raise $100,000 through our annual Headwinds Appeal which ended June 30, 2021. Thanks to you, we surpassed that goal. Now as we portage from one year to the next, I want to take a moment to pause and reflect on all you have helped us achieve this year. Since July 1, 2020, during the Headwinds Appeal we: - reached 103% of our fundraising goal ($103,848);
- welcomed 82 first-time donors to the Red Canoe Foundation family; and,
- received donations from 196 separate donor households!
Because of your generosity, we were able to pledge $41,635 for eleven campers to attend Camp Wabun in 2021 in addition to a $12,990 grant to support Bear Island youth attendance at Camp Wabun. Unfortunately, the Canadian/USA border continues to be closed so Wabun is unable to run summer programs until 2022. However, your support enables us to partially fund 62 campers this summer so they can escape the lure and burden of screens, and spend time outdoors, learning new skills, building new friendships and learning again the importance of teamwork. Red Canoe’s $6,000 grant to Chicago Voyagers will help fund 60 campers to participate in their wilderness programs by the end of the summer. The other two campers were Red Canoe Foundation scholarship recipients who had planned to attend Camp Wabun; we are pleased to help keep their passion for wilderness opportunities alive through a USA-based camp experience, with hopes they will return to Wabun next summer. We at Red Canoe Foundation are feeling hopeful and revitalized as we plan for the upcoming year’s activities. The past 18 months have challenged all of us in many ways and we may not yet know the full extent that young people have been impacted. Yet, research is already showing that time spent outdoors can mitigate some of the stress of the pandemic which makes Red Canoe Foundation’s mission even more timely. On behalf of all of us at Red Canoe Foundation, thank you for paddling with us, and we look forward to continuing our journey as we seek to help make transformative wilderness opportunities possible for more youth.  Gail Coleman, Executive Director |
|
