Sierra Club Offers Outdoor Leadership Opportunities to VFW Members

The Sierra Club has long recognized that veterans and their families have a great love for the outdoors. Now the Sierra Club is working hard to get our veterans outside to enjoy the freedom of the lands they defended through the Mission Outdoors Military Family and Veteran Initiative, and has asked the VFW to help spread the word.

The Sierra Club’s mission statement is simple:  “Explore, enjoy, and protect the planet,” while at the VFW:  “No one does more for veterans.” At first glance, some may be surprised that the Sierra Club would look to the ranks of the VFW to support their new initiative, but when you get down to the core values of both organizations, working to offer unique outdoor opportunities to veterans is a natural fit.

Outdoor activities can be a fundamental step in helping service members and their families reintegrate into their communities and mitigate issues related to post-traumatic stress, depression, and other physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. Whether it is a short walk in the woods or a multi-day expedition into one of America’s great wildernesses, outdoor recreation allows our service members and veterans the opportunity to come home and enjoy the beauty they helped protect.

Unfortunately, a lack of trained leaders to take our veterans into the great outdoors often creates a significant access hurdle to outdoor activities. Without experienced leaders who are trained to safely take other people into our heartland, veterans can miss out on the beauty America has to offer. To actively combat this Sierra Club is excited to pilot its first leadership training course in coordination with the National Outdoor Leadership School. The course runs from April 25 through May 2 in the Gila National Forest in Arizona; the world’s oldest officially designated wilderness area; and participants from the VFW taking part in the training. What new veteran leaders will learn together on this course, they will be able to implement in other outdoor opportunities.

In keeping with the strong traditions of grassroots organizing, the Sierra Club will also be offering weekend training opportunities in August in Washington State; October in Colorado; and November in North Carolina to train new outings leaders to lead military, veteran, and other community members outside. Details on these additional outings will be available in the coming months on this blog and the Sierra Club’s military Web sites.

Participation is free, and VFW members are encouraged to sign up. However, space is limited, so contact Stacy Bare from Sierra Club, stacy.bare@sierraclub.org, to learn more about these opportunities or to reserve your spot today.

It is the VFW’s sincere hope that we can continue to work together to ensure our veterans and their families have all the opportunities to get outside as often possible, and our aim is to work with you side by side to get you out on the trail.

For more information and opportunities to get outside please check out: www.sierraclub.org/military or http://sierraclub.typepad.com/military. Meanwhile, we’ll update you in this space when we get back home from Arizona in early May!

(Images: Veterans participate in a variety of outdoor expeditions as part of the Sierra Club's Mission Outdoors Military Family and Veteran Initiative. Photos courtesy of the Sierra Club.)