Connecting Children to Nature

Over the past year, Inside the Outdoors Foundation has forged a meaningful partnership with The Mission Continues - Orange County 1st Service Platoon.   The Mission Continues is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting veteran volunteers and innovative community organizations to create transformational change for communities in need all across the country.  Their goal is to empower veterans who are adjusting to life at home to find purpose through community impact.  Veterans are deployed on new missions in their communities, so that their actions will inspire future generations to serve.

The Orange County 1st Service Platoon partners with community stakeholders in order to enhance underserved neighborhoods. "We believe in serving those who serve the community and achieve our mission through partnerships with non-profit organizations by tackling issues with a hands-on approach."  Focuses include improving school environments through facility renovation and beautification, increasing community and parent involvement, and promoting health awareness through school gardens and green spaces for physical activity.

On Saturday, November 17, 2018, 24 members of the Mission Continues - Orange County 1st Service Platoon and volunteers from the Wounded Warrior Projects spent the day working on site improvements and restoring habitat at Inside the Outdoors’ headquarters and field trip site on the 105-acre property at Rancho Soñado.  Rancho Soñado is an environmental education facility located in the Santa Ana Mountains.  Surrounded by preserves and national forest, Rancho Soñado gives students a chance to explore local ecology in a pristine environment represented by four Ecosystems: pond, riparian area, oak woodland, and chaparral.  60% of students attending an Inside the Outdoors program come from underserved communities and are sponsored through grants and donations.

The Mission Continues restored habitat by removing cattails obstructing local wildlife access in and around the pond at Ranch Soñado.  The pond lab station allows students to perform a "Westland Assessment" and practice the scientific method to determine if non-living factors are suitable for sustaining organisms.  Working in teams, students measure the temperature, pH, clarity and salinity of the water.  They also survey plant and animal varieties, compile their data and develop conclusions. 

In addition, the Orange County 1st Service Platoon performed maintenance on the "Energy Trail" used by students to learn about different native animals and how to identify where they get their energy. Service volunteers also built tabletop greenhouses for use in propagating plants that will be donated to local school gardens, constructed a new site kiosk and refurbished the picnic tables where students learn about the factors of a Zero Waste Lunch: recycling, reusing and composting to benefit the environment.

Platoon Leader, Emmanuel Martinez, runs the Orange County 1st Service Platoon like a well-oiled machine. He scheduled a brainstorm meeting with Inside the Outdoors staff to ensure that projects met the needs of our site, arrived 2 days early to drop off supplies and prep projects, and worked before, during and after the build day to ensure that all projects and veterans were well managed.  Additionally, Emmanuel returned after the event to create a road sign for Inside the Outdoors.  A personal project he took on as a thank you to the organization.

The Mission Continues has donated construction plans, all materials and supplies needed for projects, and provided nearly 300 volunteer hours to benefit the students attending Inside the Outdoors programs at Rancho Soñado and throughout the county since our partnership began.

I see Inside the Outdoors and The Mission Continues maintaining a successful relationship for years to come. The veteran group has already committed to working on a number of school garden projects with us in the 2018-19 school year.