Thoughts from a Patagonia Employee
When Patagonia closed down all of their retail stores to keep staff safe from the COVID-19 virus, this Patagonia employee decided to spend her time writing some content for our blog. We are so thankful for the support we receive from Patagonia through product donations and financial support, but it is the fact that employees are so passionate about the causes they support that makes this partnership so special. Thank you Patagonia and thank you Breghan Klein for the following thoughts.
Blog 1.
We are stuck inside as the coronavirus begins to spread. I beg to ask the question though, were we also stuck before? Elevate Youth’s website points to the fact that one out of five children do not have access to the outdoors due to a lack of equipment, partnership, and knowledge of outdoor skills. The value of the outdoors becomes a lot clearer when access to these vast spaces is taken away from you. We have been stuck in a daze of school and work business, commotion, and news stimulus that everything else begins to fade away. The environment welcomes each individual as they are unlike many social networks. It is essential to immerse ourselves in nature while we are able to because in the midst of this pandemic, everything has changed. I now appreciate nature more than ever because I now understand how difficult it can be to access the outdoors in the first place. These public and wild spaces need our protection so we can continue to play, explore, and adventure before it is too late. We must work together to create a community where each child has access to the outdoors from an early age. Giving a community of youth the ability to imagine in nature creates foundations of environmental advocacy down the line.
Blog 2.
There is an inequity present within the outdoor industry. One out of five children do not have access to the outdoors in Boston, Massachusetts. Youth engagement in the outdoors has proven to increase quality of life, happier moods, healthier physical bodies and mental attitudes, etc. There are studies that link environmental awareness and advocacy to early exposure to the outdoors in many cases. The lack of outdoor programming for underrepresented communities has lasting damage. Some of my favorite memories growing up include climbing, jumping, and running through open fields with my friends outside. Being in nature teaches children more about themselves and fosters friendships that can last a lifetime. In the future, we must demand that everyone gets a shot at experiencing mother earth’s playground. There needs to be more opportunity for children in marginalized communities to be involved in outdoor activity to build stronger knowledge about the importance of the environment and knowledge about existing socioeconomic divides. I believe that Elevate Youth has done a tremendous job at bringing to light the importance of nature for children. Being stuck inside for extended periods of time, I hope that we can all continue to think of ways we can elevate our youth!