By: Outdoor Afro Leader Viva Yeboah
This past Saturday, Outdoor Afro Chicago wrapped up 2013 with a hike along the Cap Saucer and Swallow Cliff loop in Palos Park, IL.

This loop is linked with several other trails that make up Cap Saucer Holdings Nature Preserve, the largest nature preserve in northeast Illinois. What is awesome about this nature preserve, is that is so close to Chicago, but still provides the peacefulness of nature. The trails have multiple uses including mountain biking, running, hiking and horseback riding.

Our hike consisted of 6 miles of hilly terrain. We enjoyed great conversations around the topics of public education, zouk music and what’s next for Outdoor Afro Chicago. Hiking offers a space to reflect, observe and connect with individuals. We met a fellow Outdoor Afro on his horse and even got a glimpse of deer before it galloped away!

GirlTrek represented at our hike!
2013 has been a successful year for Outdoor Afro Chicago. We have grown in many ways and that’s thanks to our members, the leadership team, as well as our sponsors and collaborators. We look forward to next year and continuing to provide a variety of activities with the growth of our leadership team.
Stay in touch through our meetup group or facebook group page!

Click to support our Indiegogo campaign to train locally relevant and inspired leadership!

As the founder of Outdoor Afro, you know I am passionate about the great outdoors for everyone to enjoy. Here is more:

Outdoor Afro Kickstarter from Community Bridge Video on Vimeo.
Inspired by my family, I started Outdoor Afro in 2009 to share this passion using social media. The message quickly resonated with thousands of others from around the country who shared their own images and stories that affirmed African Americans do have a positive and historic relationship to nature.
In May of this year, we launched the Outdoor Afro Leadership Team that went to work connecting folks of all ages to nature right in their own backyards. Since then, team members from nearly every region in the US have altogether connected nearly 500 people to the outdoors through recreation and conservation activities.

In 2013 we want to significantly increase the number of people we connect to nature, and to accomplish this goal we need to provide greater professional development for the leadership team to enhance their outdoor skills (hiking, camping, birding, etc).
Why is this important?
In the face of alarming rates of obesity in the African American community, and the need for more people to care for our fragile planet to support its sustainability and local community health, we all need to get out and build a relationship with nature and the outdoors like never before.
Please help us reach our goal of $15,000
The Impact
Outdoor Afro is about connecting more people to the natural world through fun and relevant outdoor experiences. And we know that people respond positively to leadership that reflects their community.
People need nature now like never before. More people getting outside now means healthier people, communities, and greater stewardship for our precious natural resources our futures depend on.
With a start-up of volunteers and monthly training calls this year, we have successfully been able to organize nearly 500 people, from all around the country to be tomorrow’s Outdoor Afro leaders.
Your support today means a significant increase in the number of people getting outside through a strong leadership team!
Please support the Outdoor Afro Leadership Team today!
Other Ways You Can Help
Make some noise about the Outdoor Afro community wherever you go!

• Co-create the conversation on our Facebook and Twitter pages
• Share the Indiegogo link with your networks!

Every action makes a difference!
Thank you for your support!