Much like the river, reflection and visioning are on-going — sometimes free flowing, other times pooled and dammed, navigating obstacles, partnering with the great power of the current, pausing in eddies. However, winter tends to offer a natural opportunity for greater reflection and preparation for the seasons to come. As we move into the final weeks of winter, I’ve been reflecting on the lessons and accomplishments of the last year and enthusiastic to share about our growth into the future.
Over the last year we’ve made a lot of changes and progress toward big picture goals, alongside tough decisions to suspend our river programs in 2020. We have maintained strong and healthy partnerships with all of the community organizations we work with and to whom we will continue to provide our programs when the time and environment is appropriate for each specific community. We have been able to engage our alumni community and reach new youth within our partner communities through the creation of our Guide Book program which provided guided journals that include curriculum activities to support community connection, mental health, personal reflection, and nature connection. We facilitated virtual campfires for past participants to reconnect and share about their current experiences. We were able to create local small group programming for New Avenues for Youth in partnership with Next Adventure Scappoose Bay Center to provide afternoon paddle programs.
Our Board of Directors reviewed and reconfigured staff roles to match the changing needs of the organization, creating an Executive Director position which added the oversight and care for all areas of the organization to my current role of shepherding programs, partnerships, staff and operations. We created a Board Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee who has been working on authentic and meaningful ways to diversify and grow our Board leadership for the future, alongside a commitment to education, growing awareness, and making conscious changes across our organization regarding anti-racism and DEI efforts from staffing, curriculum, operations, marketing, and leadership. With the commitment of our supporter community, we were able to shift our fundraising goals and events to create engaging offerings that fit the parameters of our pandemic reality — including a wildly successful year end giving campaign which brought in over double what we have achieved in past years. These internal and community-supported shifts have set the stage for an abundance of health and positive growth for LEAP into the future.
After lots of communication, research, and consideration — as of now, we are planning to run programs for the 2021 season. Precisely which groups will be able to join us, the number of participants and exact program details are still coming into form — but we are enthusiastic to proceed, as always, with integrity and the care and well-being of each individual and group at the forefront of our decision-making. I have never been more ready or understood so fully the responsibility of connecting people with nature, the river, and essential community.
Included in the 2021 programs will be a new offering that supports the expansion of our programming for our current communities and new communities with whom we can’t wait to share the transformative power of the river. In late 2020, we applied for and were awarded a new permit on the Lower Deschutes River in Oregon through the Bureau of Land Management. Although precisely who will join us in what capacity on the Deschutes this summer is still to be determined due to the on-going impact of covid-19 — the creation of this new program will enable us to offer shorter program experiences within the state of Oregon for individuals and communities that have greater barriers to access our 5-day flagship programs in Idaho. These groups are likely to include specific subsets within the communities we already serve, such as: middle school aged youth, adults who have lost a spouse or a child, family and multi-generational programming, youth from specific service programs, and LEAP alumni who are interested in developing outdoor leadership skills. As well as new specific communities from across Oregon and Southwest Washington. I look forward to sharing about this new programming, who will be served and in what ways as we get closer to the summer season and as these offerings expand in the years to come.
Additionally, we continue to be committed to the expansion of our Idaho programming to serve new partner communities in the Salmon River region. These partnerships take time to meaningfully develop as we also are thoughtfully growing our support network to fund and champion these new programs. We look forward to sharing more about the groups we’ll be able to support in 2022 and beyond.
One of the great lessons of the last year has been that diversity in every form supports the health and strength of our community. Many different perspectives help us create the broadest impact in our programs. As we continue to grow the diversity in our leadership and internal structures, we will also continue to explore diversity in our programming to create offerings that promote greater access to the outdoors and the transformative power of time spent in nature and community.
Thank you for your continued support and engagement in our work. We can’t wait to share what this upcoming season holds as we continue to navigate the many challenges and opportunities of our current time.
Paddle On,
Valerie Pufahl
