Why Carly's Kids?

 In honor of our daughter and sister, Carly, and her life long passion of helping other people, especially the underprivileged, we decided to establish a non-profit organization called Carly’s Kids.

Carly had a passion for creating the perfect learning environment for kids. She believed that outdoor field experiences were more effective in getting students to think critically and engage in the materials than a traditional classroom. She used her love of the outdoors and her ability to make each individual feel unique and talented to bring science and nature alive for hundreds of children. Carly also had a desire to make outdoor field experiences available to all children, regardless of their socio-economic status. She was extremely interested in the national movement to “leave no child inside” that focuses on getting more children into the woods, promoting a “green hour” each day, and reinstating Outdoor Education programs in our schools. It is in keeping her vision alive that we have created the Carly’s Kids organization.

Carly worked for Multnomah ESD Outdoor School prior to starting her graduate work at the University of Montana. She loved seeing how excited the children were to learn about the outdoors through the field based science programs she taught. Established in 1966 Multnomah ESD Outdoor School is one of the longest running and most successful environmental programs in the nation. Their commitment to excellence is the reason we initially chose this outdoor education program for Carly’s Kids to attend. In 2016 the state of Oregon passed measure 99 providing funds for Outdoor Education for all 5th/ 6th graders. This enabled us to focus on Forest Kindergarten and other field science based experiences. 

Since the inception of Carly's Kids in 2012, We have donated  over $200,000 to local schools and helped over 7000 students to experience the benefits of outdoor educational experiences.  We will continue to promote "outdoor learning" for all kids and your donations are helping ensure that any child that wants to attend an outdoor learning experience will be able to do so.  

Schools or organizations interested in receiving funding to provide outdoor educational experiences to young persons, please complete the grant application found on the website and submit to info@carlyskids.org.  Funding decisions will be communicated in a timely manner.