Showing love for Mother Earth

Many of you know that I'm an environmental educator, and some of you may be wondering how, of all the jobs in the world, I chose this career path. It all goes back to my childhood, growing up on a farm in rural Georgia. You would always find me outdoors. Exploring creeks and streams, climbing trees, looking in the seaweed for critters, hunting, fishing, flipping over logs to find salamanders, and everything in between. These early experiences inspired me from a young age, and I knew that I wanted a career where I didn't have to be in an office for 40 hours a week. My love of the outdoors and wanting to share it with others led to my current career path, and I couldn't be happier with my decision. 

Now, I'd like for you to imagine a world where kids don't go outside. It may seem odd, but it's today's reality. Today’s youth are one of the first generations to grow up almost entirely indoors, spending up to 27% of their time indoors and only 1% outdoors.  This detachment from the natural world decreases our care and concern for the environment, understanding how natural systems work, and even where our food comes from.  Today’s youth will inherit a world with increasing environmental concerns. How can we expect them to address the environmental issues of tomorrow if they are not connected to our natural world today? 

The statistics are scary, but we can work together to change this reality and detachment from our Mother Earth. Every day, environmental educators like myself are working with our youth to help make them aware of the natural world and encouraging them to become stewards of our environment who help love, support, and take care of it. And you can help. 

A few years ago, I dove into the role as Resource Development Chair for the Environmental Educators of North Carolina (EENC). We are a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental education in our state through professional development, networking, and partnerships.  This year, we are participating in a fundraising campaign to raise $20,000 in six weeks. These funds will go towards providing professional development and networking opportunities for educators, as well as supporting partnerships for environmental education organizations on a statewide scale. I've set my personal fundraising goal at $1,000. The entire board is working towards our goal. If we meet our goal, we will be doing a 'polar plunge' into the Atlantic Ocean at our board retreat in mid-January. I absolutely despise cold water and am not excited about this at all, but I'm really excited and passionate about environmental education, so I'll take one for the team. But ONLY if we meet our goal. You can help us do that. 

If you have a past experience that helped shape your love for and commitment to protecting our Mother Earth,  please pay it forward by supporting EENC’s mission and work. Help us give today’s children those life-altering experiences, and help us to grow and educate better stewards of the environment. Side bonus: you get to see me scream like a cheesy horror film vixen as I run into the icy cold waters of the Atlantic.  It's a win for the children, and a win for us all. Thank you in advance. :)