ICO - Brief Article

Introduce inner city youth to the mountains, forests, rivers, and meadows and share the beauty of our national wilderness. Inner City Outings (ICO) gives low-income youth and physically disabled individuals the opportunity to explore nature. City streets may be the only environments some youth know.

Volunteer leaders provide inner city youth access to nearby wilderness areas and teach them how to safely enjoy the outdoors, as well as the importance of preserving wild places for future generations.

ICO participants learn to hike, backpack, camp, canoe, kayak, bike, ski, and raft, as well as to cooperate, trust, and solve problems. Confidence and self-esteem increase as participants learn outdoor skills.

In 1999, volunteer leaders provided over 700 outings for 12,000 participants! To help ICO, you can become a volunteer ICO leader in the city nearest you (listed above), and/or make a tax-deductible contribution.

Each ICO group is supported by donations of money and equipment from people like you, local businesses, and foundations committed to bettering the lives of youth in their communities.

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/ICO or e-mail: ICO@sierraclub.org

West Region

Fresno, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Portland, OR
Sacramento, CA
 San Bernardino/
Riverside, CA
 San Francisco Bay
Area, CA
San Jose, CA
Seattle, WA

Southwest Region

Austin, TX
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
El Paso, TX
Houston, TX
Las Cruces, NM
New Orleans, LA
Oklahoma City, OK
Tucson, AZ
Tulsa, OK

Midwest Region

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

Southeast Region

Atlanta, GA
Birmingham, AL
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Memphis, TN
Miami, FL
Orlando, FL
Sarasota, FL
Tampa Bay, FL

Northeast Region

Boston, MA
Fairfield County, CT
Hartford, CT
New Haven, CT
New Jersey
New York, NY

Mid-Atlantic Region

Baltimore, MD
Charlotte, NC
Harrisburg, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Raleigh, NC
Washington, DC
Winston-Salem, NC

"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