The 4th Annual Base Camp Bash: Get Your Tickets Today!

The Cottonwood Institute is excited to announce that our 4th Annual Base Camp Bash fundraising event will be held on Friday, April 17, 2009 from 7 - 10pm at the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo). The night will be fun filled and action packed, but tickets are limited to the first 150 people, so you’d better act fast!

The Base Camp Bash is an annual event held to raise money to help fund the Community Adventure Program (CAP) at public schools in the Boulder/Denver area and to raise money for our Jason F. Griffith Scholarship Fund so students can attend our 2009 Summer Courses.

Here are a few Bash highlights:

• Robbie Knight, 99.5FM The Mountain radio personality and host of the Green Report, will Emcee the event.
• The first 150 guests will receive a reusable shopping bag from REI to help reduce their footprint.
• Enjoy a fabulous silent auction with amazing trips, outdoor gear, concert tickets, and more!
• We will have delicious appetizers, a cash bar, and live music.
• A panel of experts have reviewed the 2008 CAP Action Projects and selected a winner and will present an Environmental Stewardship Award to student representatives.
• We will show a short movie about the Cottonwood Institute to inspire our guests.

Tickets are $30 dollars in advance and $35 at the door. CLICK HERE to find out more and purchase tickets! We hope to see you there!

Cottonwood Institute Receives $1,500 Grant From Patagonia!

Imagine a high school class where you can get academic credit for going camping and changing the world. Sounds great doesn’t it? Well, Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear company, thought so too. The Patagonia store in Boulder chose to show their support by awarding the Cottonwood Institute with a $1,500 grant! The grant will specifically go towards underwriting four quarters of the Community Adventure Program at New Vista High School in Boulder during the 2009-2010 school year.

The Community Adventure Program is the Cottonwood Institute’s core educational program. Designed for high school aged students, CAP combines camping and wilderness survival with environmental awareness and community involvement. Implemented as a class during the school day, CAP students attend overnight camping trips, learn important wilderness survival skills, and create a student-designed Action Projects to address a local environmental issues. CAP helps students to be more aware and appreciative of the environment, and become involved in their local community by tackling pressing environmental issues.

Patagonia is a socially and environmentally responsible company committed to addressing local environmental issues and funding environmental work in Boulder County. Thank you Patagonia!

5280 Magazine Features the Cottonwood Institute!

The Colorado wilderness is vast and beautiful and much sought after by climbers, hikers, campers and skiers alike. But this glorious wilderness can also be harsh and unforgiving. Weather conditions can change at the drop of a hat. From sun to snow to sun to…is that hail? Mountain lions and bears inhabit the mountains and things might not always be what they seem. Because of this, one must always be prepared when venturing into the wilderness. You never know when you might have to put your skills and knowledge to the test and survive.

In the March 2009 issue of 5280 Magazine, Patrick Doyle features the Cottonwood Institute in his article, The Colorado Survival Guide! The article highlights stories of people who have been caught in real life survival situations. Ford Church, founder of the Cottonwood Institute, and other experts in the field offer commentary on what these people did right and what they did wrong so we can learn from their mistakes. The article also features a full page spread of the Official Cottonwood Institute Survival Kit and upcoming Cottonwood Institute Survival Workshops for adults. Pick up a copy of the issue on newsstands today!