Hello, welcome to another episode of Papa Bear Heights.

Inspiring people to go outside.

When does that start?

Of course, at any age, and we've had people on here to have started as late as in their

50s that have decided they want to go out and enjoy the outdoors.

But the best time is with children.

So many stories of people we've talked to, their first memories of outdoor experiences took place in their childhood,

whether it was with a family member on a camping trip or a youth group or with scouts, that's

where it started.

But not all youth have those opportunities. We have communities that are underserved and are not being given these opportunities.

Today we have with us a representative from Big City mountaineers David Touse who's going to talk a little bit about what his organization is doing to reach out to different communities to expose children to enjoying the outdoors.

David, welcome to Papa Bear hikes.

Well, thanks so much.

It's great to be here. David, how about you start off by telling us a little bit about big city, mountaineers?

I talked a little, you know, I spoke about how you're trying to reach out to

other communities that are possibly underserved or youth aren't having those

opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. But if you could tell us exactly what it is, Big City Mountaineers doing to help with this.

Absolutely. So Big City Mountaineers is a national non-profit. We operate in six metropolitan regions around the country, including Seattle, Portland, Oregon, the Bay Area, Denver, Minneapolis, and Boston.

And we actually have a legacy program in Miami as well.

And our mission is to provide transformative experiences through nature

that help youth from disinvested communities build community and strengthen their life skills.

We are 33 years old, we've been at it since 1990, and since then we've served over 11,000 kids and provided over 45,000

...