FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
By Clifford Agocs, Climbing For Kids Coordinator.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, October 15th, 2008 - Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT) launches its 2009 Climbing For Kids fundraising event nationwide on October 15th, 2008. Climbing for Kids is one of BAWT’s largest annual fundraising events and helps to finance programs that have gotten over 7,500 youth outdoors since 1999.

A growing body of research indicates that kids are spending less and less time doing outdoor activities. But the time children spend in nature determines their environmental awareness as adults. Dr Patricia Zaradic of the Environmental Leadership Program, and Dr Olivier Pergams of the University of Chicago-Illinois have described the cause as “videophilia”, a dramatic increase of television, computers games and Internet use.

The challenges of climbing peaks like Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Whitney " the highest peak in the lower 48 states, relate perfectly to what so many youth that we reach experience. April, a two-time climber, expressed: “The reward of supporting BAWT is two-fold: For the youth, raising funds to help them experience respect, and understand nature through BAWT’s programs. For me, to build confidence by putting myself through challenges on a mountain that I would never experience in everyday life.”

Climbers fundraise among their personal networks, and in return enjoy an incredible ascent of peaks like Shasta, Whitney, Rainier and the Grand Teton with professional guides and a gear package valued at $1,500 retail, which they keep at the end of their climb. Bay Area Wilderness Training is a San Francisco based non-profit organization that facilitates outdoor experiences for youth in the greater Bay Area, and has raised over $650,000 in that last four years through the event.

 “Our climbs are life-changing " for climbers and the kids that benefit” says Clifford Agocs, Climbing For Kids Coordinator. “Climbers will train their way to the top and learn mountaineering skills on a climb that they will never forget. The youth BAWT serves will experience nature in ways they never have before thanks to climbers’ fundraising, which makes dayhikes, overnights and backpacking trips a reality for thousands of at-risk and underprivileged youth every year.”

About Bay Area Wilderness Training:
Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT), a non-profit project of San Francisco’s Earth Island Institute, facilitates outdoor experiences for youth in the greater Bay Area. BAWT provides professional training courses for adult youth workers in skills necessary to conduct safe, high quality wilderness trips for the young people they serve and a comprehensive library of outdoor gear that leaders can utilize to outfit their trips free of charge. The BAWTmobile program gives youth leaders access to low-cost transportation to take youth on outdoor adventures. BAWT has served over 7,500 youth since its founding in 1999.