Seed the Future: A new campaign to sustain our outdoor education efforts.
By Marilyn Gallegos Ramirez | Chair of the Seed the Future Committee
Originally printed in the Watershed Voice Fall/Winter 2021 edition.
One of the things The Escondido Creek Conservancy realized early on is that it’s difficult for people to value what they don’t know. Sadly, the current generation of children spend less time in nature than any previous generation. How can we expect them to care about wildlife and habitats when they’ve never been exposed to these things?
To address this problem, they’ve been providing transformative outdoor programming for children and adults alike, to spark and sustain a passion for nature. These programs have become indispensable for the students, teachers, and families who receive them, but funding these programs has always been a challenge.
This past spring, the Conservancy contracted Jacqueline Rossow Consulting to launch an exciting new fundraising campaign—Seed the Future—to sustain their education work. With a goal to raise $1.9 million, Seed the Future will allow them to: continue providing their existing flagship programs, like the Habitats program for all Escondido Union School District 3rd graders, Trout in the Classroom, and Conservation Fellows. It will also enable them to establish a new educational space at their beautiful Sardina Preserve, so they can expand their programming and their reach by converting an old agricultural building on their Mountain Meadow Preserve into a spectacular field station where high school and college students can conduct real-world conservation research. They will also be able to grow their California Statewide Outdoor Learning (CalSOL) coalition, so they can continue advocating for equitable access to outdoor education for all of California’s K-12 public school students.
Nature affords us a wealth of benefits, including physical and mental well-being. Outdoor education connects us with nature and fosters stewardship for a better planet. Please give the gift of nature to children and help Seed the Future and cultivate a passionate new generation who values nature as much as you do!
Support the Conservancy’s Education Fund.
