Footprints Persists!
It’ not for a lack of passion, because our runners are prepared to do whatever it takes to make a difference for the environment. And it’s not for a lack of organization, because we have educators and mentors eager to put everything else aside for a week in order to provide campers with the tools to bring their projects to fruition. The lodging is booked (and gorgeous), the food is ordered (but not yet delivered, don’t worry), and the Clif Bars and Salomon shoes are ready for distribution. Nevertheless, we must postpone the camp once more.
I’ll spare you the Coronavirus statistics, because that’s most of what the news reports these days. We all know that cases are rising and we’re well into a second wave of infections around the world. It’s a situation totally out of the control of Footprints camp, and because we operate in close quarters and in small, isolated communities, we have no choice but to postpone the camp again. The safety of our participants and that of the communities where we run is of paramount importance. To borrow a phrase from the world of emergency medicine, our number-one priority is to not create any more patients.
This is disappointing, but it’s also an opportunity. Each of our campers now has more time to prepare their ideas and outlines for their projects before coming to camp, which means they will arrive with more momentum and be able to take more decisive actions upon arrival. Each of our staff has the opportunity to communicate more with their campers and with each other, which will develop stronger networks that facilitate learning and ideas. And the organization has more time to develop outreach programs that will bring more people, brands, and communities into the fold, thereby making the positive effects of the camp more broadly accessible. It’s hard to postpone because we all want to get together and get to work, but because there is simply no other option at this time, we are determined to use this extra time productively.
One new development is the goal of organizing a small race and picnic in Silverton, CO on the last day of camp. This will be our opportunity to share the projects, goals, and purpose of Footprints Running with the local community, and to get more people involved. Our goal is to not only develop specific actions for our campers’ communities, but to share these actions and the knowledge behind them with as many people as possible. Creating a community race in Silverton will be one means of getting a wider group of people together for this common cause. So keep the day of July 31 open on your calendars, and we will announce more information as these plans come together.
If you have any thoughts or ideas, or you want to be involved with Footprints in some way, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are a collaborative organization and we are much more effective the more people we have involved. We are also putting together plans to host a second camp - this time in Moab, UT in January 2022. We will announce more information on that camp in the next few weeks as well.
So, despite being forced to postpone the camp once more, we are actually in quite a period of growth! It has been thrilling to see the ingenuity and passion of the people we’re working with already, and we can’t wait to get everyone together (finally) in July. Furthermore, we’re looking forward to broadening our base and sharing our message and practices with the world at large. Stay in touch, and see you out there!