Wilderness Kids Alexandria

Wilderness Kids Alexandria is the only organization in the City of Alexandria dedicated to getting teenagers into nature -- that's our mission: to provide life-enriching experiences in nature to teenagers from under-resourced families and under-served communities in the City of Alexandria.

Science has proven what you already knew intuitively: nature is good for us. Time outside improves our physical and mental health. Time away from screens, breathing fresh air, lowers stress and anxiety and just makes teenagers feel and be better.

Last year, Wilderness Kids got more than 150 students into the great outdoors in 107 different sessions, generating 2300+ student-hours in nature. We did all this through our four programs:

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• n After-School Program for students at Francis Hammond Middle School and Jefferson Houston K-8 School; and a brand new Wilderness Kids Adventure Club at Alexandria City HS. These programs get middle school students outside, exploring our local parks; and teach high school students to plan and execute their own outdoor adventures!A
  
  
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• eekend Outing Program for MS and HS students that offers opportunities to hike, climb, paddle, sail, bike and more in natural areas throughout the DMV. In 2024-25, we've begun offering overnight weekend camping trips as well in the fall and spring!Our


• Skills Cohort Program that offers students a focused opportunity to pursue a newfound passion paddling; or to develop the critical life-skill of swimming--about half of our students come to us without this critical life-skill. Coming in fall 2025, we plan to offer a new Climbing Cohort, based on a successful pilot run last year!A Su
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• mer Peak Experience Program that offers multi-night camping trips to Shenandoah, to Dlly Sods, along the Great Allegheny Passage, and more. In summer, our students get their first experiences camping under the stars and living cooperatively with their peers in community.Thank

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ou so much for supporting our efforts during Spring2Action, whether that is with a gift of $10, $100, or $1000--we appreciate your support. You will be enabling us to offer all of these programs, serving more and more students in Alexandria, from 6th grade through high school graduation.Matchin

want especially to thank Old Town Smiles, an incredible dentistry office in the heart of Old Town, and Atlantic Union Bank, our wonderful bankers. Old Town Smiles has offered a $2500 matching grant for a second year in a row for Spring 2 Action. As a result, for each dollar you donate, these wonderful dentists will match it up to $2500.  Atlantic Union Bank has also offered a matching grant this year of $500 which will match each gift given before April 9, up to $500! Thanks so much to both Old Town Smiles and Atlantic Union!Wil

derness Kids Community Gathering April 9, 6:00 PM at Le JardinWe

also want to invite all our local supporters out to Le Jardin at Gustave Boulangerie, in the heart of Del Ray, on Wednesday April 9 at 6:00 p.m. Please drop in for a beer, wine, or lavender lemonade (yum!) and a bite to eat. Bring the whole family (even the dog)! The Jardin is the beautiful garden area beside the Boulangerie, complete with a bocce court! We are thankful to Le Jardine for hosting us again this year and donating a percentage of sales from the evening to Wilderness Kids to support getting even more young people into the great outdoors. See you there! (Address is 2213 Mt. Vernon Ave, Alexandria)In

closing, we want to share what our students, parents, and teachers have to say about Wilderness Kids--so that you can know in their own words the difference your gift is making. Thanks so much!“My

• son loves everything about Wilderness Kids. Participating in the program has given him motivation to attend school." - HS Parent"I w
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• nt to thank Wilderness Kids for bringing teens outdoors rather than us being inside on the phone. We have lots of things to do!" - ACHS student"My d
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• ughter has come out of her shell since she started your programs." - Parent of an MS student“[Wild
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• rness Kids] has been very effective in getting my children acquainted with society and the environment. Their language and communication skills have expanded and they have made new friends. They are getting out of cyberspace, television, and games. They are physically active and learning new skills. They have experienced some skills that they had only seen on television. Since my wife and I come from another society, we have not had these experiences ourselves to teach them, but in this group they are introduced to another type of useful activities that they can use in their future lives.” - Parents of MS students"I have


• learned that it is okay to be yourself and that it is also okay to talk to someone." - 8th grade student“Thank y
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• u for teaching my children new things.” - Parent of 3 Wilderness Kids students, including those in the "Learn to Swim" Cohort"I feel a
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• complished after spending my first night away from …




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