Campout Collab – Outdoor Afro x Latino Outdoors
Campout Collab – Outdoor Afro x Latino Outdoors
Building Community, Wellness, and Belonging Through Camping
Some of the best stories begin around a campfire.
This year, Outdoor Afro and Latino Outdoors embarked on a beautiful journey together, bringing Black and Latino communities into nature through a series of multi-day camping experiences centered around wellness, leadership, and belonging. From Houston to the San Francisco Bay Area and the Chicago region, participants gathered under one shared vision: that the outdoors is a place where our communities can reconnect, learn, and thrive, together.
What unfolded across these campouts was a living reminder that our stories, cultures, and traditions have always been connected to the land and to one another.
Every stop along the way added another chapter to that story.
CHAPTER 1: HOUSTON
Making Space for Wellness
At Palmetto State Park outside Houston, the importance of gathering together felt especially profound.
Participants made molcajete salsa and shared discada tacos. They learned about the African roots that shape so much of Latin American music and danced together in celebration of those shared histories. They learned to build campfires, floated in the river, and looked up at the stars together.
Around the evening fire, stories emerged about family traditions, ancestors, and the connections built over the course of the weekend. Others spoke about the importance of unity, kinship, the healing power of nature, and how meaningful it is to be in a space where we can simply be ourselves. Iliana Alviter, of Latino Outdoors remarked:
Again and again, people spoke about the healing that happens when we are able to simply be ourselves, and this weekend offered a powerful reminder: joy is not separate from the work—it is part of the work.
CHAPTER 2: SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
Finding Magic, Rain or Shine
The Bay Area campout taught another lesson entirely…
The rain came, but so did everyone else.
Nobody allowed the weather to interrupt what had been months of planning and anticipation. Instead, participants adapted together, finding new ways to enjoy nature. Astronomy presentations moved indoors. Movie nights appeared. Arts and crafts tables emerged. Families gathered in community spaces, played Lotería and Taboo, shared meals, and made memories that had nothing to do with perfect weather.
When the skies opened, hikers headed for the trails and explored the tide pools together.
Perhaps the most beautiful moments came through the connections between generations. Children played with elders, young adults found community with families, parents watched new friendships form in every direction.
Latino Outdoors’ SF Bay Area Regional Coordinator, Aurora Cortes, reflected:
“Our community campout in partnership with Outdoor Afro was a huge success! It rained on us, but even the rain wasn’t enough to keep people from camping! Our closing circle got very emotional with people expressing their immense gratitude for a safe space… It was all just really good vibes.”
The gathering became a reminder that belonging isn’t built by ideal circumstances. It is built by people choosing to care for one another, no matter what the forecast says.
CHAPTER 3: CHICAGO
The Stories We Carry Home
By the time our communities gathered at Indiana Dunes State Park outside Chicago, something special had already taken root, now joined by even more new Midwest participants who arrived ready to connect.
Newcomers were welcomed like old friends. Meals were shared. Gear was exchanged. Community members came together to offer their knowledge of the dunes while around the bonfire, stories, laughter, and quiet moments of rest filled the evening air.
Then came Sheila, an injured blue bird found by participants that became an unexpected companion for the weekend! Community members cared for her until wildlife professionals arrived, embodying the stewardship and compassion that live at the heart of both organizations.
Outdoor Afro leader Sheena Duffey reflected on the experience beautifully:
“There’s something special about being surrounded by nature and even better when it’s shared with community. These are the kind of memories that stay with you—rooted in connection, culture, and the joy of the outdoors.”
And that’s exactly what these campouts created: memories rooted deeply enough to travel home with us.
One Journey, Many Campfires
Across every campsite, one truth remained constant: our communities belong in the outdoors, not just as visitors, but as outdoor leaders, storytellers, and caretakers. We are joyful participants in the natural world. This collaboration between Outdoor Afro and Latino Outdoors demonstrated what becomes possible when Black and Latino communities gather with intention.
The campfires may have gone out for now, but the relationships, confidence, and memories created on this journey continue to glow. And this story is still being written with additional campouts planned for later this summer, we look forward to welcoming even more people into experiences that nurture wellness, deepen connection, and build lasting community in the outdoors.
So whether you’re a seasoned nature enthusiast or finally inspired to embark on your very first outdoor adventure, there’s a place for you with us on future trips!
To connect with nature and find upcoming events near you, download the Outdoor Afro app and visit Latino Outdoors’ blog.
We can’t wait to see you on the trail, around the campfire, and in community.
Free to Be the Best Me: A Juneteenth Reflection on Outdoor Wellness
Free to Be the Best Me
A Juneteenth Reflection on Outdoor Wellness
Freedom anniversaries ask us to look both backward and forward. On June 19th, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, news of liberation finally reached Galveston Bay, Texas. That day, our ancestors stepped into a new reality that was equal parts possibility and uncertainty. Ever since, Black communities have marked Juneteenth with music, food, dance, and celebration.
We’re adding another layer to that tradition: we celebrate by moving our bodies through sunlight, fresh air, and wide open landscapes.
Making Waves: Freedom Flourishes in Community
Juneteenth reminds us that progress has always been powered by people working together. Today, expanding access to water safety and swim education requires that same spirit of collective action.
Making Waves is building a network of Community Collaborators who share our commitment to ensuring that Black children, families, and communities have access to life-saving swim education. Through these partnerships, we can create pathways to confidence, safety, joy, and belonging in and around water.
We’re not talking about one day clinics. Our goal is to connect families with a full beginner swim series that builds skills over time and empowers participants to reclaim freedom in the water.
Do you know a swim school, instructor, community organization, recreation center, or aquatic program that shares this vision? We’d love an introduction. Use the link below to refer to an organization.
If your organization is interested in joining the network, visit the Outdoor Afro app and submit a Swim Partner Application.
Why the Outdoors Matter
Outdoor Afro’s mission of reconnecting Black people with natural spaces springs from lived history. There was a time when forests hid patrolmen, lakeshore parks posted whites-only signs, and hiking gear ads erased faces that looked like ours. Yet our elders found ways to garden, fish, explore and thrive in nature all the same. Today, when we kayak rivers or learn to fish in our communities, we honor their ingenuity and announce, “We belong here.”
That belonging is also supported by decades of research confirming what intuition already knew. There are over 1000 studies on nature’s impact on wellness.
For Outdoor Afro, this matters because many of the wellness challenges facing our communities are connected to chronic illnesses like hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes that disproportionately affect the Black people. Time outdoors is one practical way to support prevention, movement, stress reduction, and overall wellbeing.
Research on green space points in a similar direction. A 2024 systematic review and meta analysis found that greater access to green space was associated with lower odds of diabetes and hypertension. [1] Another large review found that nature exposure is linked with positive outcomes including improved blood pressure, physical activity, mental wellness, sleep, and cognitive function. [2]
The takeaway is simple: being outdoors supports wellness in many ways that don’t have to be complicated. A walk through the neighborhood, time near water, a bike ride, or a community hike can all become part of how we care for our bodies, steady our spirits, and practice freedom in real time.
Simple Ways to Thrive Outdoors
Nowadays, our community seems to be busier than ever, but you can embrace wellbeing through simple daily choices. We turned to Nicole Wilson, an Outdoor Afro Volunteer, to share her expertise by asking what is your NatureRx* and how does it help you feel free, grounded, and well in your body, spirit, and relationship with nature? *NatureRx is your personal prescription for wellness through nature. It can be an outdoor activity, place, or practice that supports your physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual wellbeing.
So let’s enjoy the fresh air as we elevate Juneteenth to more than a date on the calendar and into a season of embodied freedom that lasts all year. Download our app to explore upcoming events. See you on the trail where we are free to be well and free to become our best selves every step of the way.
Sources:
[1] A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis found that green space access was associated with reduced odds of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10953288 “Association of greenspaces exposure with cardiometabolic …”
[2] A 2021 review in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found evidence linking nature exposure with improved cognitive function, brain activity, blood pressure, mental health, physical activity, and sleep. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8125471 “Associations between Nature Exposure and Health – PMC – NIH”
Mother's Day, Mother Earth
Mother’s Day is a reminder to look up, step out, and remember: care is lived in the everyday. It shows up in how we move through the world, how we tend to what’s around us, and how we stay connected to what sustains us. And in the way Outdoor Afro understands “home,” care has always been simple: we believe the strongest kind of stewardship begins with love.
Because when you fall in love with nature, you naturally want to protect it.
That’s the heartbeat of our work.
Outdoor Afro celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature. We reconnect Black people to our lands, water, and wildlife through outdoor education, recreation, and conservation. And in all the hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, gardening, skiing, and everything in between, there’s a deeper intention: our programs are designed to help people build real relationships with local ecosystems, close to home, rooted in community, and strong enough to last.
Love changes how you move through the world.
When a child learns the name of a plant, that plant becomes familiar. It becomes something to notice, to learn from, to care about.
When you spend time by the same creek across seasons, you begin to notice what shifts. You notice what belongs there and what doesn’t. You begin to understand it in a personal way.
When you find a trail that makes you feel peaceful, you want it to stay safe and beautiful. You want your niece to walk it one day. You want your elders to have a place where they can breathe. You want your people to keep gathering there with ease.
That’s stewardship. It begins with belonging.
One of the most powerful things Outdoor Afro does is create space for that belonging to grow. We invite people into nature in ways that feel welcoming and grounded. We help people touch it, learn it, laugh inside it. We make it feel approachable, especially for those who were taught (directly or indirectly) that the outdoors wasn’t meant for them.
The truth is, connection to land and water has always been present: in bodies, in histories, in the ways communities have always gathered, rested, played, and survived in relationship with the land.
Mother’s Day is a moment to acknowledge care as something practiced and shared, including care for the natural world.
The more people return to nature, the more care grows.
That care shows up in quiet ways that matter. It looks like treating a park like part of the neighborhood. It looks like noticing wildlife with respect. It looks like picking up a stray piece of trash. It looks like teaching children that the outdoors is something they are in relationship with.
It also looks like leadership. The kind Outdoor Afro has always stood for. The kind rooted in care and community, where people support one another in shaping the culture of outdoor life.
So on Mother’s Day, there’s an invitation to begin where you already are.
Fall in love with your local ecosystem on purpose.
Choose one place near you: a park, a trail, a shoreline, a community garden, even a stretch of sidewalk where trees grow. Visit it again and again. Watch it change. Learn one new thing each time. Bring someone you love. Let it become meaningful through attention and care.
That’s how stewardship grows. Through practice.
If you want to plug into Outdoor Afro this season, we’re here. Our year round activities are designed to make it easier to get outside with support, encouragement, and community, so relationships with nature can deepen naturally. Whether someone is brand new or has spent a lifetime outdoors, there is space for them in this family.
Mother’s Day is one moment in a continuing practice of care. The kind that ripples forward.
Because time spent with land and water shapes how people move through the world. It strengthens attention. It deepens responsibility. It builds a sense of connection to what will come next.
That is the future being built together.
So download the app and join us for a little fresh air!
6 Steps to Fundraising $1,000+ in 5 Days (A Guide From Real People Who Actually Did)
6 Steps 
to Fundraising $1,000+ 
in 5 Days 
(A Guide From Real People Who Actually Did)
If you’ve ever wondered how people actually raise serious money in a short amount of time… this is your guide.
Real people. Real strategies. Real results.
Let’s walk through six steps that can help you raise $$$ quickly, featuring Tennema (who raised over $1K) and Lydia (who raised over $2K in just 5 days).
1. Start Close; Your People Are Your Power
Before going wide, go deep.
Tennema started with the people who already know and love her:
“To get donations to my fundraiser, I started off by sharing the landing page in family/friend group chats. I included a brief message on why the fundraiser was important to me and shared that I would be very grateful for any contributions made towards it.”
This works because:
- You’re not cold-pitching
- You’re inviting people into something meaningful
- People are more likely to give when there’s a personal connection
2. Make It Easy to Share (multiply your reach)
Don’t just ask for donations… ask people to spread the word. Tennema shared,
“I also encouraged my family to share the fundraiser within their own networks, which really helped cast a larger net.”
This is where things start to grow beyond your immediate circle.
Think of it like:
- You → your people
- Your people → their people
That’s how momentum builds.
3. Use Social Media (but don’t rely on it alone)
Social media helps, but it’s not the whole strategy.
Here’s how Tennema got strong results:
“My biggest influx of donations came when I shared the fundraiser on my personal social media platforms. I shared my goal and how close I was to meeting it, which I think made it feel attainable and didn’t pressure anyone to give a single large donation, but rather more smaller ones.”
Meanwhile, Lydia noticed something important:
“My initial posts had a minor impact: I posted on Facebook and LinkedIn, but these generated very limited traction—only one $25 donation on Facebook. This reinforced that passive posting alone wasn’t enough.”
Takeaway:
Post (but don’t stop there).
4. Make Direct, Personal Asks (this is where the money comes from)
This is the step most people skip, and it’s the most powerful.
Lydia’s biggest success came from email:
“Direct email outreach had a major impact! I sent a message to my holiday card/email list (about 90 people), which resulted in about $1,250 raised. I offered a personal match of the first donation that came through. This was the most effective single action—people who already had a personal connection to me were most responsive.”
And Tennema reinforced the same idea:
“I also sent a few individual messages to folks who wouldn’t have caught my messages in group chats/social platforms.”
Yes, it can feel uncomfortable:
“It was a bit scary initially making the ask, but because it’s for a great cause, there were many people willing to contribute.”
But this is where real results happen.
5. Tell a Story (video = even better)
People don’t just give to links. They give to meaning.
Lydia leaned into storytelling:
“Video storytelling = moderate impact. I recorded and shared a personal video explaining why Making Waves matters to me, paired with Outdoor Afro imagery. Posting this on Instagram and Facebook along with photos provided by Outdoor Afro helped raise another $750. At the end of the day, I posted another video thanking everyone for their response and gifts.”
Storytelling helps people:
- Understand why it matters
- Feel connected
- See the impact
6. Follow Up + Show Gratitude (this builds momentum)
This is where good fundraisers become great ones.
Lydia stayed engaged throughout:
“I sent individual thank-you texts and emails as donations came in. This helped deepen relationships and encouraged continued sharing. I also got to hear from my friends and family why they also love Making Waves! Bonus: Posting a thank you message after my social media sprint resulted in $200 more in donations.”
And she didn’t stop there:
“I’m continuing with weekly follow-ups across LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and email. I’m also removing people who have already donated to avoid over-messaging and keep outreach thoughtful.”
Her biggest lessons say it all:
“1. Personal asks outperform general posts; emails still work! 2. Video storytelling significantly increases engagement and giving 3. Consistent follow-up is essential 4. Gratitude builds momentum and community”
Raising money isn’t about having a huge audience.
It’s about:
starting with your people being clear about why it matters showing up consistently and inviting others into something meaningful Tennema raised over $1K.
Lydia raised over $2K in just 5 days.
Not because they had perfect strategies.
Because they showed up, asked, and stayed connected.
And you can too.
Lydia raised over $2K in just 5 days.
SOCIAL POST EXAMPLES
See Real Posts That Worked
Still unsure what to say? Add some personalized touches to this template then copy and paste!
Hey y’all! I’m raising funds for Outdoor Afro.
This organization is all about helping Black people connect with nature, build community, and create meaningful experiences outdoors.
If you’re able to support or share, I’d really appreciate it. I’ve linked my page below.
Thank you for being part of this with me!
