Help Kroka change students' lives and our world

In January I dropped my daughter off in New Hampshire and I will return for her in June, after she, along with 11 other students and 3 leaders, has completed a “Full Circle” Expedition: 500 “people-powered” miles, by foot and ski to Northern Maine, and by canoe and bike back to New Hampshire.

I am so proud of this group of teens, each of whom has bravely taken up this challenge. I am proud of them for leaving behind their cell phones for five months and choosing, instead, to write letters. I am proud of them for their trip preparation, for getting their bodies ready for this expedition through intense training, and their minds ready by counting the cost of what it means, for each, to leave family, friends, and support systems at home.

I am proud of them for waking up at 5:30am and doing what it takes, as a team, to get ready for the day. Each student has a “big job”: making sure everyone has enough food to sustain energy for each winter day’s trek, keeping the group’s gear dry, carrying the tent that will house them each night, and preparing to read and navigate the terrain ahead. They are learning together how to plan ahead and take care of themselves, each other, and the Earth they are privileged to tread. And they are having fun, singing, laughing and building community. Each night the group lays a bed of tree boughs and crawls into their tent, tired but stronger and more aware.

Kroka describes the semester as “a uniquely transformative experience. We embrace risk and discomfort, and we experience the vulnerability that arises with challenge and interdependency. In doing so, we have the opportunity to shed the layers between ourselves and the world and to wake up to what it means to be fully human.”

In our increasingly fast-paced, automated world, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to do this: to lie on the Earth night after night, and tread the Earth day after day, throughout the seasons, to slowly rebuild our connection to what is essential. We need this group of teens. My community does. Our planet does. As they spread themselves back out over the globe, they are change-makers. They will never be the same, and we grow along with them. Tom Wessels, author of Reading the Forested Landscape, says “Kroka provides truly holistic outdoor experiences in which participants not only gain incredible confidence and skills, but more importantly, learn how to be in right relationship with each other and the earth.” Isn’t this what we all need, now more than ever?

My daughter was only able to participate in this semester because we were given a generous scholarship, through Kroka, funded by donors. Kroka’s funding, however, is decreasingly able to cover the costs of Winter Semester, so I am writing to ask for your help. I would love to raise $10,000 for the program:

I started with a goal of $17,000 but a donor has generously provided $7,000 in funding for BIKES: a fleet of simple, durable bikes that will empower our base-camp school and summer programs to explore the area, ride to our local climbing site, or visit a swimming hole without getting in a van.

I am now raising money for:

A CUSTOM TENT: $5000

Kroka's Winter Semesters are unique, and have always relied on our partners at Tentsmiths to create custom tents to serve as an all-purpose classroom, kitchen, and dormitory for our students through the winter. With changing climate conditions, we need a tent that can withstand all forms of precipitation. Snow? Rain? Sleet? Stinky socks? Bring it on! We did lots of field-research this year, and have an updated design ready for production.

SKIS: $5000

For changing winter conditions, we need backcountry skis that can do it all! They need to be lightweight, as we are often carrying them on our backs. They need to be durable, so we can put 300 miles a year on them for many years. And they need to handle ice, deep powder, and occasional patches of mud skiing... After years of searching, we've found a pair that can do it all! 18 pairs of Rossignol skis

$10,000 will fund these items. but any amount makes a difference! If you would like to learn more about Kroka Expeditions, please go to www.kroka.org. Kroka is a non-profit organization, and you will receive a tax deduction receipt from Go Fund Me.

Truly grateful for Kroka, and truly grateful for you!

Allegra Haupt