Guess what? Taylor and I signed up to run, slide, climb, and crawl through 5k of mud, nets, water, walls, compost, tires, and who knows what else, the Saturday before Earth Day. Why? We did it to support a critical cause we care about: creating safe spaces to get kids and families outside to appreciate nature, play, and learn the importance of sustainibility.
Want to help, in celebration of Earth Day?
Please consider supporting us as we raise funds for the Ithaca Children’s Garden, an award-winning 3-acre urban garden designed expressly for children, touches more than 70,000 lives each year, at no cost to visitors. They offer world-class environmental programs to awaken the nature-lover in us all, addressing alarming trends that I am helping address through my participation in Tough Turtle. Ithaca Children’s Garden is all about getting kids connected to nature through outdoor play, which has enormously important impacts on the health of kids and the health of the planet. Here’s an excerpt from a position statement put forward by National Recreation and Parks Association:
Children today spend less time outdoors than any other generation, devoting only four to seven minutes to unstructured outdoor play per day while spending an average of seven and a half hours in front of electronic media. As a result, child obesity has reached unprecedented levels and continues to rise. Children are carrying this sedentary lifestyle and a disconnection with nature into adulthood which creates a troubling national trend for the future of conservation, our economy, and the health and wellness of our communities.
We'll be thinking of you on Saturday! Thanks!
Tough Turtle
Tough Turtle is Ithaca’s original adventure obstacle course race - with 5k and 10k courses - that serves as a celebratory community event and opportunity to support a critical local cause: inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards. The 5th annual Tough Turtle celebrates the milestone anniversary with a new 10K option and new and challenging obstacles. Also new this year is a post-race celebration sponsored by CTB/Ithaca Bakery and Ithaca Beer! Climb, sprint, crawl and slide through the course along the Cayuga Waterfront and Black Diamond Trails on the south shore of Cayuga Lake. What are you waiting for? Register today! l To stay in the loop, check out our website www.toughturtleithaca.com To join the Tough Turtle team of distinguished sponsors, volunteers and for all other inquires, contact [email protected].
ITHACA CHILDREN’S GARDEN IS AN AWARD-WINNING 3-ACRE PUBLIC CHILDREN’S GARDEN DESIGNED FOR KIDS, ENJOYED BY ALL, AND DRIVEN BY A MISSION TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDS.
MISSION
To inspire, promote, and sustain youth and community stewardship of the natural environment through garden-based learning and discovery.
VISION
To serve as a premier destination for environmental, garden-based education for children and their caregivers in Ithaca and the Northeast.
THE ICG STORY
ICG has been honoring the whole child and fostering environmental stewardship since 1999. We believe the best way to do that is to get more children outside, with hands-on sensory experiences, having fun in the natural world. ICG is a place where kids can be kids and adults can feel good about it.
ICG was first organized in 1997 by Harriet Becker, Mary Alyce Kobler, and Monika Roth. They heard Jane Taylor of the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden speak and were so inspired by the impact this children’s garden had, they decided that Ithaca’s children also needed a special place to explore and connect to nature designed especially for them. In 1999, ICG earned its 501(c)3 non-profit status under the direction of Founding Director Meg Cole. In 2004, a lease for 3 acres in Cass Park was secured with the City of Ithaca, and in 2005, Gaia the Turtle was built. From there the program, staff, volunteers, and Garden have grown. More than 500 community youth contributed ideas for the conceptual design, and countless youth have been involved in shaping its continued growth.
Each year ICG continues to expand the ways it meets the needs of the community while growing its regional and national impact.