A Message from our Founder and Executive Director, Patricia Cameron
(Keep Scrolling After Her Message For More About Her Trek):
I am currently out of the country hiking Wainwright’s Coast to Coast UK Trail on behalf of Blackpackers.
With an incredible investment from the Colorado Health Foundation, we are starting our capital campaign to fund our physical outdoor education building for Blackpackers Outdoor Skills School (BOSS.) Through BOSS we hope to continue providing wilderness medicine certifications, outdoor education, and other curriculum-based experiences for those who recreate outdoors, those who adventure outdoors, and those who seek to find a professional pathway into the outdoor industry. This thru-hike is the beginning of our fundraising efforts to match our initial investments. We would love your support through a one-time or monthly donation to Blackpackers or sharing our campaign with your networks! For more information about our plans (to include how your donation dollars will be used) please reach out to our Executive Assistant, Augusta Fleming, at admin@coblackpackers.com.
Additionally, any member of our board of directors would love to share our vision with you!
Since 2020, Blackpackers has sought to provide economic equity in the outdoor industry by providing professionally guided, fully outfitted, and curriculum-based programming in camping, backpacking, hiking, climbing, skiing, snowboarding, swimming, and more. We like to say we meet those at the intersection of underrepresentation and economic vulnerability. Last year, with just two trips we were able to provide 117 participants with lift tickets, half-day lessons, goggles, gloves, snow clothing, and all their gear ski and ride days through our long-standing partnership with Arapahoe Basin. Our climb night has seen hundreds of participants since 2022, and our camping trips have fully outfitted up to 40 participants per overnight in multigenerational groups and families!
In the meantime, please come visit us at our new location at 339 E. Pikes Peak Avenue, COS, CO. 80903 and check out our gear locker and our new classroom space!
While I am out, Augusta can handle most of your queries and as this is a work trip I will indeed be checking email. You can also reach out to our program manager at info@coblackpackers.com if you have any questions about our program calendar. Events are added fairly frequently, so keep checking in!
On another note, thank you for your support of Blackpackers and B.O.S.S in whatever capacity that has been. We are elated to see this project come to fruition and are looking forward to more wilderness medicine, trail clean-ups, hikes, climbs, trips, and more!
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Kindly,
