Los Angeles pack donations needed by Monday, September 14th.

Our friends and partners at the Environmental Charter High School need your help. If you live in the Los Angeles area and have a used, larger capacity, internal frame backpack that you can donate, you can help inner city youth experience the wilderness – many for the first time!

On Wednesday, Sept. 16, ECHS will take 126 high school juniors in small groups to experience a three-day backpacking trip through the enchanting Los Padres National Forest. The school has been successful securing some gear donations but they are still shy 70 backpacks to outfit the students.

Environmental Charter Schools believes introducing its students to the natural world in a way that inspires meaningful connection with the wilderness is necessary if we are to nurture a generation of environmental stewards. Their backpacking trips promote environmental awareness, interpersonal skills building and group cohesion through team-building activities, landscape exploration, and wilderness expeditions. These outdoor education trips are merely the beginning – many students join weekend hiking trips or trail crew projects with the Pacific Crest Trail Association.

Most of the students are not able to afford the basic equipment required in environmental education. Your pack donation will be used by the school not just for this excursion but for many students and adventures in the years to come.

Pack donations can be made by 8 p.m., Monday, Sept. 14., at the Adventure 16 store in West Los Angeles, 11161 W. Pico Blvd.

For information, please contact Mandy Breuer, ECHS Principal, at 424-236-0197.