In late July, I plan to take a group of 10 young homeless people from LA to the High Sierra for their first-ever backpacking trip. Hopefully, the experience will help show them a world outside the city they鈥檝e never seen, while endowing them with new-found confidence and perspective. But聽to make it work, I need your help outfitting them with basic backpacking gear.聽
I鈥檓 planning the trip in conjunction with the . LAYN was founded in 1985 to 鈥渆mpower abused, neglected, and troubled adolescents to become self sufficient.鈥 They give young people a safe space to live, therapy, and guidance, enabling them to become successful adults.聽
For this first trip, we鈥檙e planning a three-day, two-night backpacking excursion into the Sierra Nevada, camping above 10,000 feet. I hope to teach the kids some basic outdoors skills like orienteering, cooking, and first aid, but mostly I just hope we all have a fun time. If we do, this could be the start of a larger program.聽
Of course, to make this work, I also need to outfit 15聽people with basic outdoors gear. Do you have an old tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, or backpack going spare? We could use it. This stuff doesn't need to be fancy, or new, but hopefully it will be in useable shape, and of the general type you'd carry on a backpacking trip.聽
Items we need:聽
- Sleeping bags
- Sleeping pads
- Backpacking tents
- Backpacking packs
- Puffy jackets and vests in various adult sizes
If you鈥檙e able to donate one or more of those items, please ship it by July 1, 2016, to:聽
Wes Siler
C/O Los Angeles Youth Network
1853 Taft Ave
Los Angeles, CA
90028听
Everything will be used for the benefit of these homeless youth; if we end up with too much stuff, it鈥檒l roll into future programs.聽
You鈥檒l be reading about the trip here on IndefinitelyWild.聽