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On a sunny morning in mid-March, young campers of Pathfinder Outdoor Education dangled from a large live oak at a church in St. Petersburg. Strapped in harnesses, they gleefully swung about, climbing higher with help from experienced climbers. The sounds of laughter and joy filled the air.
Since 1993, Pathfinder has provided adventurous outdoor experiences to youth and adults. The nonprofit organization’s reach is statewide, with programming that serves 6,000 participants annually.
A large part of the organization’s focus is to give these experiences to children in Title One schools through scholarships. On May 3, Pathfinder will hold its annual fundraiser, the Old Florida Soiree, for those youth scholarships. The fundraiser will be at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club.
Co-executive Director Breanne Haapala explained that the goal is to target youth in South St. Pete who have either limited outdoor education programs at school or have lost the funding for outside outdoor education programs. Also impacted are summer programming that “keeps them engaged and they do learning objectives and helps them prepare for the fall,” she said.
“We want to be able to provide those opportunities and make things accessible, especially for the ones that couldn’t afford that otherwise,” Haapala said. “We’re trying to offer or increase our programming for Title One schools and families and individuals.”
Last year, the fundraiser provided 259 scholarships. Haapala said she hopes to increase that number this year. Most funding for Pathfinder comes through grants and donations.
The Hough Family Foundation provides the funds to enable the monthly community tree climbs to be free. Pathfinder also offers fee-based programs to private groups, which provide the funds to cover overhead and to grow programming, Haapala said.
The Gabber Newspaper covers live theater and art across South Pinellas. And, when we find something worth the drive, we cover art in the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas.
There are plenty of ways to support Pathfinder, including an artful one. Willow Hart, who works at Pathfinder as a facilitator and fundraising and social media coordinator, is also the executive director of Artists For Impact.
“The goal of Artists For Impact is to support the community, to bring artists together, provide them opportunities to connect with each other, to support each other, to sell their art, to sell their art for good causes that support our external community,” Hart said.
Artists can donate works for the silent auction at the Old Florida Soiree. They are looking for donations from local businesses, also. (Contact willow@pathfinderoutdooreducatuion.org to make a donation, accepted through April 30.)
Hart started the quarterly Makers Market, held under the tree at Pathfinder, about a year ago. The next one happens on April 19. There will be a clothing swap and drive. Leftover clothing will go to CASA and St. Pete Food Not Bombs, the latter of which Artists For Impact also supports.
The collaboration with Pathfinder is natural, Hart said.
“It’s all the same ethos of,” she said, “we want to support the community.”
St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, 559 Mirror Lake Dr. N., St. Petersburg. May 3. 7-10 p.m. $40-50. The attire is vintage inspired. pathfinderoutdooreducation.org, 727-328-0300.
The Makers Market happens at the Tree from 12-4 p.m. on April 19.
Pathfinder will be onsite at the Green Thumb Festival leading a tree climb April 26-27 at Walter Fuller Park, 7901 30th Ave. N., St. Petersburg.
On May 10, Pathfinder will host a community tree climb (Pathfinder, 1310 22nd Ave. S., St. Petersburg).
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by Maggie Duffy
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