GGO Newsletter | December 2021 | gatewayoutdoors.org
Dear GGO Community, 

2021 was a terrific year for Gateway to the Great Outdoors (GGO)! We are so thrilled to have returned to the classroom to provide our students with GGO’s traditional hands-on, nature-based environmental education curriculum. GGO could not have survived this turbulent year without our amazing community and supporters. With your help, we have been able to:

• Return to the classroom and provide GGO’s traditional in-person learning for 13 classrooms

• Lead over 16 field trips to exciting locations, such as caverns, farms, and rock climbing gyms

• Provide interactive virtual programming, Go & Grow STEAM kits, and virtual field trips for students continuing to learn from home

• Expanded to multiple new schools in Chicago and 2 new schools in St. Louis

• Organized exciting inaugural fundraising (Brain Teaser Bash STL) and community (Science Carnival CHI) events

On behalf of the GGO team, I want to sincerely thank you for your continued support. We cannot express our gratitude to you enough for supporting our mission and helping us equitably engage children with the magic of nature-based outdoor education

On Giving Tuesday (November 30th), we kicked off “Donate S’more: GGO’s End of the Year Campaign.” I am so grateful to everyone who has supported this initiative thus far. We still have $8,031 to reach our goal. Please consider donating and sharing this fundraiser. We need your help to reach our goal. GGO is a 501(c)(3) and survives solely on donations, we can not do it without your support. To donate please visit the GGO website, our Facebook page, Instagram, or send a donation to 3650 N. Magnolia, Chicago, IL.

Thank you so much. Your donation will provide St. Louis and Chicago youth with the gift of nature and transformative experiences.

Sincerely, 
Founder & CEO
Donate S'more Raffle Prizes
Starting tomorrow (Friday, December 17), GGO will be raffling off youth-sized FitBits every Friday afternoon every Friday until the end of 2021. To be eligible to win, all you need is to submit a donation of any amount directly through our Facebook: “Donate S’more: GGO’s End of the Year Campaign”. 

Here’s how it works:

2) There is NO minimum donation amount to enter the raffle (every donation counts!)

3) Every time you donate equates to one raffle ticket. So, if you donate five times you will be entered to the raffle five times.

4) GGO will pull a name weekly. Your name will remain in the following weeks' raffle if your name is not pulled that week.

5) You must be 18 years or older to enter and are only eligible to win once.

Donate and be entered to win! FitBits are a great present for any child, grandchild, or close friend!
Thank From a Partner Principal
“GGO provides a critical outdoor experience for our students that we cannot provide during a regular academic program. It fits well within our normal school day and allows our students to learn practical outdoor skills and to experience the joy of outdoor activities. This has been a vital partnership that focuses on not only providing experiences to our students but also builds a strong relationship between our students and the GGO volunteers.

Camping with the fifth graders overnight and seeing their joy was one of the highlights of my year as a principal. Our students have loved their GGO experience this year, and we are so lucky to have GGO as a partner!” 

DEBORAH ROGERS, ED.D.
Principal
Patrick Henry Downtown Academy
St. Louis, MO
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GGO Newsletter | December 2021 | gatewayoutdoors.org