11
expanding beyond the White-dudes-with-beards contingent of outdoors-people (of which I am a member), we all need to donate to our professional association. Whatever your area of greatest concern is within our profession, there’s a good chance that the AORE is currently working to improve it (and if not, please let a Board member or National Office staff know).
Giving supports items like our new Research Grant, which is helping provide advocacy ammunition for the impacts of what we do beyond fun that participants have. As I finish this article, on the road at a Barnes and Noble near Winston-Salem, North Carolina, I just went to AORE’s website and gave a small amount of money to the Fund for Advocacy because that’s what I’m most passionate about. It took less than 5 minutes.
Giving also supports targeted membership recruitment (if you haven’t noticed, we’ve got lots of members in the Southeast, but could use a few more members and programs from the West Coast and other areas). It supports innovative opportunities for professionals, like the Global University experience in Peru that was facilitated by Rick Dawson and our Executive Director, Jeannette Stawski.
Don’t worry if the amount you donate is small. Whether it’s $5 or $500, your donation will help advance what we’re doing. If we don’t all collectively realize the importance of giving, we will miss countless opportunities. Go to AORE.org and click on “GIVE” now. It will make our time and conversations in Minneapolis this November a lot more fun.
Megan Owens, a student trip leader with NC State University's Outdoor Adventures program, facilitates a discussion with incoming first-year students on a five-day outdoor orientation backpacking trip.