Last year, Outward Bound held our annual National Benefit Dinner at the Riverside Church in New York City. One of many things that made the night so special was a small group of young Outward Bound alum selling $20 raffle tickets to raise money for an Outward Bound scholarship. The winner of the raffle would have the scholarship named after them.
Scholarship students reach the top of a summit near Leadville, CO
These alum raised over $4,500 in just 1 hour! Enough to put 2 scholarship students on course! We felt so lucky to have these amazing students (who were all participants in the Summer Search program, one of Outward Bound’s partner organizations) volunteer their time that night. They were able to go on their Outward Bound courses as a result of donations, large and small, and through their hard work that evening they have given the gift of Outward Bound to other deserving students. One of the student volunteers said this about her experience at the National Dinner:
“What I enjoyed the most about selling raffles tickets is that most of the people that I went up to were very interested in supporting Outward Bound…It really amazed me because it showed that the guest wanted more students to continue going on these courses with the help of their donations….Their responses were so great that it made me feel happy sharing my story with them.”
Our dear friend, and long time supporter, Kathleen Murray won the raffle that night, thus creating the 2011 Kathleen A. Murray Scholarship Fund. We are pleased to introduce our two Kathleen A. Murray Scholars, Nathaly Abreu and Hugo Jimenez, who will both be going on 3 week courses in Minnesota this summer. Nathaly has already started her Wilderness Canoeing course and Hugo is counting down the days until he embarks on his Canoeing and Backpacking course in a few weeks. Here’s a little bit more about them from their Summer Search mentor:
Nathaly Abreu is a sophomore at University Heights, where she is an honors student and also anchor of her school’s news team. Proud of her Dominican roots, Nathaly is a first generation American, and lives with her mother and two older sisters in the South Bronx. Nathaly is passionate about music, and plays the piano. Working with the elderly in her community and at her church, Nathaly demonstrates her commitment to serving others. When describing her motivation in her application for Summer Search, Nathaly explained, “…I want better things for myself…I believe that we all deserve better, as a person and as a community.”
Hugo Jimenez is a rising junior at Aviation High School in Queens. He immediately impressed Summer Search staff with his maturity and thoughtfulness during his interview earlier this year, and has taken the responsibilities of being a Summer Searcher head-on. He recently brought his grades from the 80s to the 90s, and has expressed an interest in both aviation mechanics and architecture. As we were discussing his summer trip earlier this spring, he very tactfully asked if there was a program available where he could hike with a backpack and sit around a campfire at night. He explained that he has never been camping and it was something he really wanted to try. When you ask him what he’s most excited about, he usually just responds, “everything.” He’s very thankful for the opportunity and looking forward to meeting with Kathy in the fall.
We look forward to keeping you posted about Nathaly and Hugo as they return from course and share their Outward Bound experiences with us. Many thanks again to the students who helped us raise this money, and the many people who bought raffle tickets and made Nathaly and Hugo’s Outward Bound courses possible.
About the National Benefit Dinner
The 2011 Outward Bound National Benefit Dinner will take place on October 20, 2011 at the American Museum of Natural History. We are proud to honor two long-standing Outward Bound enthusiasts, Mike Perlis, President and CEO of Forbes Media and Michael Rooney, SVP and Chief Revenue Officer of the Wall Street Journal for their commitment to Outward Bound over the past two decades.
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