‘This is the most fun I’ve ever had’ — A recap from our trip to Yellowstone
On behalf of Project Legacy staff, we want to personally thank all of the volunteers and donors that made our recent 7-day trip to Yellowstone in June a reality for our young people. One of the 7th grade girls said it was the best time of her life.
The youth saw bears, bison, moose, and so much more. It was a week that they will forever remember. None of this would have been possible without the support of all of you.
On the first day of the trip we drove through the Badlands, Wall Drug and Custer State Park, and what followed were highlights of some of the kids’ summers: Touring through Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, Jackson Hole. Grand Teton National Park and a 3-mile hike with a six-year-old that including a face-to-face encounter with a mama brown bear and two adorable cubs, and moose, elk, mule deer, coyote, and bison. The kids loved every second.
For many of the youth who have the opportunity to travel with Project Legacy, traveling outside of their environment often creates an “aha moment” of what’s possible. Sometimes, this moment can even change the trajectory of their lives.
I remember the first cross-country trip we took to California. We were driving along Highway 1 and one of our youth was looking out the window at the coast below him. He said, “I never thought I’d see anything other than Chicago or Rochester. I just realized that I can go to college, get my degree and move anywhere I want — I just never thought that was possible until this minute.”
Travel opens doors to new experiences. It allows our youth to picture themselves somewhere other than the neighborhood where they grew up, and when it comes to helping our young people dream new things for their futures, this is infinitely valuable.
The youth at Project Legacy are often living in homes where they go to bed hungry, where the electricity is off due to an unpaid bill, where there is no money to even consider traveling to another state. But through Project Legacy, and with your generous support, we remove the barriers and provide the opportunities so youth can enjoy themselves, have their basic needs met, and absorb new experiences without worrying about how they can afford it.
Thank you for making experiences like this possible. Just as unconditional love and support are crucial to the lives of our young people, we believe so are experiences like these — memories our youth will never forget.
Take a look at the pictures from our Yellowstone trip.
With your help, we will be adding additional trips for Project Legacy youth. First, we will be going to the Rocky Mountain National Park in August with middle school and high school girls, as well as a trip to the Global Homeboy Network Gathering in Los Angeles with 3 peer mentors, African American, mixed race and Somali, all who will come back to Project Legacy and skills to expand and refine our program.