ICO Inner City Outings

Introduce inner city youth to the mountains, forests, rivers, and meadows, sharing the beauty of our national wilderness. Inner City Outings (ICO) gives these low-income young people and physically disabled individuals the opportunity to explore natural areas. For many, city streets are the only environment they know.

Volunteer leaders provide these populations with access to nearby wilderness areas. Participants learn how to be safe and to enjoy the outdoors, as well as the importance of preserving these wild places.

Along with hiking, backpacking, camping, canoeing, kayaking, biking, cross-country skiing, and rafting, ICO participants learn valuable social skills like cooperation, trust, and problem-solving. By building outdoor skills, participants increase their confidence and self-esteem.

In 1998, volunteer leaders provided 1,000 outings for 15,000 participants! You can increase ICO's service by becoming a volunteer leader in the city nearest you (listed at right), and/or making a tax-deductible contribution to the program.

Each ICO group is supported by donations of money and equipment from people like you, local businesses, and foundations committed to social change in their community.

Donations and requests for information about the program should be sent to:

Sierra Club Inner City Outings
85 Second Street, Second Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Checks payable to: The Sierra Club Foundation/Inner City Outings

For further information on the program, visit the web: www.sierraclub.org/outings/ICO or e-mail: ICO@sierraclub.org

Northern California and Northwest

Fresno, CA
Portland, OR
Sacramento, CA
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
San Jose, CA
Seattle, WA

Southern California and Southwest

El Paso, TX
Las Cruces, NM
Los Angeles, CA
San Bernadino/Riverside, CA

Central

Austin, TX
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Houston, TX
New Orleans, LA
Oklahoma City, OK
Tulsa, OK

Midwest

Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, MI
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Grand Rapids, MI
Louisville, KY
Minneapolis/
St. Paul, MN
St. Louis, MO

Southeast

Atlanta, GA
Birmingham, AL
Charlotte, NC
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Memphis, TN
Miami, FL
Orlando, FL
Raleigh, NC
Sarasota, FL
Tampa Bay, FL
Winston-Salem, NC

Northeast

Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Fairfield County, CT
Harrisburg, PA
Hartford, CT
New Haven, CT
New Jersey
New York, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Washington, DC

"In an area of suffering and poverty, where children are often neglected and abused, these day trips are an escape, a gift, and a `vacation.' The trips fill young and old with a joy that is not often experienced on these streets where we live."

-- Trevor Gilbert, Associate Pastor of the Lighthouse Free Methodist Church, St. Louis, Missouri

COPYRIGHT 1999 Sierra Magazine
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group