A BIG and LOUD thank you to those of you who supported our recent fundraising campaign to send more inner city students to camp in Stanley Park.
With your help, we raised $5,000 from on- and off-line donations. Your financial support has been instrumental in giving some of our most disadvantaged local students an opportunity to directly experience the magic and mystery of nature on their doorstep, right here in Stanley Park.
Starting next month and ending in June, our School Programs staff will bring more than 450 young students, half of these from inner city schools, on our popular Urban Camping Nature Immersion program, which is a two-day one-night outdoor camping adventure.
To our surprise the donors were not only from the Lower Mainland, but came from as far afield as Toronto and Lisbon, Portugal! This, we believe, shows the power of using social media in fundraising as it allowed us to extend our reach. We used FundRazr as our crowdfunding platform provider; thanks to the FundRazr staff for having the patience with us while we tried to learn how to use it.
Our School Programs staff also reports that the phones are busy with teachers wanting to book our regular field-trips for their classes. This year is proving to be the year that we’re seeing the most students in Stanley Park, which is a reflection of an increased awareness of the role that SPES can play in connecting school children with nature in hands-on and interactive programs exploring Stanley Park’s forest, beach and wetland ecosystems.