The Giving List: The Stress Busters
Wilderness Youth Project is thrilled to announce our inclusion in the The Giving List Santa Barbara and the matching challenge of $5,000 that has been generously offered to us by the Natalie Orfalea Foundation that will match every gift that comes in through this campaign.
Santa Barbara is home to thousands of nonprofits, and we are honored to have been selected to be featured again this year in the Montecito Journal's Giving List. The Giving List team consulted with leaders across philanthropy, financial services and philanthropic advising to determine which organizations should be highlighted - and we are delighted to have made the list alongside other incredible nonprofits including our partners at Storyteller Children's Center.
The Giving List is arriving in mailboxes in neighborhoods from Carpinteria to Goleta this week. If you don't receive it, you can download a PDF of our story or read our story and the full digital book online.
This year's article focuses on Wilderness Youth Project as: The Stress Busters.
When California’s Surgeon General announced in January that the state was adding “access to nature” to its list of seven Stress Busters, Gloria Sánchez-Arreola was thrilled. For Sánchez-Arreola, who lives locally but grew up in the rich and diverse cultural epicenter of Los Angeles, the state was at last recognizing the power of nature to protect kids from adverse childhood experiences.
“There’s evidence that proves that kids who are facing challenges will do better if they have one of these seven resources in their lives,” Sánchez-Arreola says. “So yes, that’s a pretty big shift to recognize access to nature.”
You can also take a look back at our blog on Adverse Childhood Experiences & Stress Busters to learn more on this topic.
The Giving List story highlights our fundraising needs as we close 2021 and move into the New Year. The first $5,000 donated will be matched thanks to a generous challenge grant from the Natalie Orfalea Foundation.
Over the next 12 months, Sánchez-Arreola anticipates record demand for the Bridge to Nature program and hopes donations match that increase. “We’re going to have the most parents, schools and community partners saying, ‘Hey, can you come take our kids? They need you,’” Sánchez-Arreola says.
“And I really want to tell all of them yes.”
Give Where You Live
With your support, we go to where the children are. Whether they’re at school, identified by teachers as students in need of extra attention, in a low-income housing space, attending programs at a partner youth-serving agency, or meeting us at a neighborhood park, your support provides the scholarships so the kids who need connection can get it
You can make a donation online today to support WYP scholarships. The goal of our partnership with The Giving List is to expand support for our important work and reach people who may not have heard of us yet! As a valued member of our community, we hope you will help grow our network by sharing our story with your colleagues and friends or donating today.
A huge thank you to the team at The Giving List for recognizing our work, to the Natalie Orfalea Foundation for offering a matching gift to double the impact, and to each of you for support our work to get kids out in nature with caring mentors.
You can double your impact today!
Your donation can give the gift of “best day ever” to kids from Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, and Goleta. The first $5,000 donated will be matched thanks to a generous challenge grant from the Natalie Orfalea Foundation.
Can you help us raise $280,191 more for scholarships this year?
The Giving List campaign helps support our goal to raise $280,191 before December 31 to provide the scholarships kids need! We need your help even more this year: we’ve lost some key support as donors have needed to shift their focus because of the pandemic. You can you help us raise $280,191 to fill this gap. Read more here.