Dear Rainbow Sandals Foundation,
We are delighted to report that the first year of our Zeva Longley Family Adventures/ Aventuras Familiares and Summer Camp Scholarships programs was a great success. Thanks to your generous support. Sixteen Canal District families were able to access fun and safe outdoor explorations in Marin County’s open spaces this summer and fall. Eight students attended a week of WildCare’s Summer Wildlife Camp on scholarship, where they enjoyed unforgettable wildlife experiences, including live animal visits with our rescued Wildlife Ambassadors, wildlife lessons, games, crafts, and stories.
The camp themes for the weeks the scholarship recipients attended included:
● Animal Sen-sations (animal senses)
● Secrets of Survival (adaptations that allow animals to survive),
● Conservation Camp (California wildlife conservation)
● Feathers, Fur, and Scales (characteristics of birds, mammals, and reptiles)
● Weird and Wonderful (extreme and unusual animal adaptations), and
● Growing up Wild (strategies wildlife use to raise their young)!
Participation: The first two Zeva Longley Family Adventures hikes took place on June 11th at Roy’s Redwoods (37 attended) and July 9th at the Marin Headlands (23 attended). We held our third hike on August 6th at Tennessee Valley, with 24 attendings. Many families went on multiple hikes.
September 17th Picnic: Our season’s culminating event was a picnic and short hike along the beach in China Camp State Park with WildCare’s bilingual naturalist Cecilia Ledesma. We played Lotería, a traditional game of chance much like Bingo, and everyone won a prize – a WildCare water bottle, t-shirt, or tote bag. There were several arts and crafts activities: Children made paper owl puppets, fox masks, and hummingbird spinners. WildCare provided pizza and healthy snacks, and several families brought traditional foods to share, which created quite a feast!
Thanks to the Zeva Longley Scholarship for Nature Education, we are opening doors to nature for many underserved families in our neighborhoods.
With much appreciation,
Nicole Trautsch, Wildcare Director of Development