Meet Our Donors

Doug Walker
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Doug Walker (in red shirt, below) firmly believes that exploring and enjoying are what leads us to protecting the environment. He has worked with the Sierra Club on a number of issues, but it’s the Mission Outdoors program that really inspires his enthusiasm:

"Pretty much all my life I've been involved in outdoor pursuits. I grew up in a semi-rural section of South Carolina; lots of hunting and fishing, and camping. My first camping trip with no grownups was with my brother when I was six and he was eight.

So often, we drive kids someplace and say, 'Look at this pretty scenery,' but that's not really going to help connect them, just looking at it from the car window. If we want them to connect to the outdoors we have to immerse them in the physical, tactile experience of it - eating something off the campfire that's something kids really do enjoy. That's where we can get their attention and say, 'Look, the outdoors is cooler than anything you're doing.'

I'm really big on getting that story out there; time and again I find it's remarkably salable. People complain kids are all into the electronic world, but even the most electronic kid will find the outdoor experience overwhelming in a likable way. And then we can help them make the connection emotionally: What if that place is gone and we can't ever go back there?

I give to The Sierra Club Foundation because I believe in the greater power of Sierra Club, which is considered the largest and most effective of all the environmental organizations. It's a fabulous brand and it's doing fabulous work, effectively. The Foundation provides another point of oversight, which is comforting.

Mission Outdoors

Developing the Next Generation of Environmentalists

Mission Outdoors integrates Sierra Club's robust outings programs with conservation, advocacy, and movement-building, in order to serve and appeal to a broader, younger, and more diverse group of people. With support from The Sierra Club Foundation, Sierra Club is working to engage and support young people, and especially people of color and non-traditional partners, to create a new generation of environmental leaders.

Serving Those Who Serve

To support our troops, TSCF has dedicated more than $1 million in grants to support military families through the Military Families and Veterans Outdoors Initiative. As a first step in a new partnership with Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to help military families get outdoors, TSCF will contribute major grants to YMCA of the USA and the National Military Family Association. The funding will allow thousands of military children and families to experience the healing powers of nature by attending camp.

Inner City Outings

In urban and rural communities across the country, low-income youth, physically disabled individuals, and many other children have limited access to the outdoors, depriving them of the many benefits that come from exploring wilderness and discovering oneself in relation to the natural world. In order to address this problem, the Sierra Club established a community outreach program called Inner City Outings (ICO) in 1976 to provide safe and fun wilderness trips for young people who would not otherwise have access to nature. Today, with support from The Sierra Club Foundation, the Sierra Club has 50 ICO groups throughout the United States. Last year, these groups conducted 845 outings that served approximately 14,000 youth, helping these participants learn how to enjoy the outdoors safely and responsibly. Through these outings, ICO promotes interpersonal skills and self-esteem by involving participants in teamwork, teaching them self-reliance outside an urban setting, and encouraging them to take an active role in protecting the environment. As its participants discover the beauty of wild lands, ICO also helps the Club build support for environmental protection in urban communities across the country.

To learn more about the Mission Outdoors programs on the Sierra Club's website, click here!

The Sierra Club Foundation stewards charitable contributions and assets responsibly. We are proud to have earned a four-star rating from nonprofit watchdog Charity Navigator, as well as an A+ from CharityWatch. TSCF is also an accredited charity in good standing with the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, meeting all 20 Standards for Charity Accountability. TSCF spends 90 cents of every dollar on environmental and conservation programs.