5 WTA partner organizations to support this Giving Tuesday

Washington Trails Association believes that trails are for everyone, forever. We seek to create a community of avid outdoor enthusiasts who love natural spaces. This year for Giving Tuesday, we are highlighting five WTA partner groups that are making waves, rewriting narratives in the outdoors and making sure everyone has access to experience nature in meaningful ways. Please consider sharing your generosity with these organizations.

Ayeko Farm

Volunteers tending to the land on Ayeko Farm. Photo provided by Deepa Iyer 

Ayeko Farm is a Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) owned and operated farm in Enumclaw that recognizes the importance of real food, deepening relationships to the Earth,  and caring for future generations through hands-on work with the land. Ayeko Farm grows culturally important food, hosts educational programs and workshops, holds cultural arts events and healing retreats, and is replanting native forests and pollinator plants on the property. 

Donate today to support Ayeko Farm’s vision to create space for BIPOC communities to reconnect with the land and their cultures through food and farming. 

ECOSS (formerly known as Environmental Coalition of South Seattle)

ECOSS staff and community leaders setting up tents together. Photo taken by Meagan Dwyer

ECOSS is devoted to promoting environmental justice and sustainability in an effort to build resilient immigrant and refugee communities who can shape their environmental futures. They are leaders in equitable community engagement, working alongside and in support of local immigrant and refugee communities to reduce waste, mitigate stormwater pollution, foster a just energy transition, and promote outdoor access and leadership.

Donate today to help support ECOSS as they provide outreach, education and engagement to communities that are inclusive, in-language and culturally responsive.

Friends of the Children–Tacoma 

A Friend and three youth gather on a porch to look at a book together. Photo provided by Friends of the Children – Tacoma.

Friends of the Children–Tacoma aims to impact generational change by empowering youth, who are facing the greatest obstacles, through relationships with professional mentors. Starting at ages 4-6, youth in Pierce County, who are facing the greatest challenges, are paired with a paid, professional mentor for 12+ years–no matter what. Our mentors, or Friends as we call them, work to amplify the voices of our youth and families as they write their own stories of hope and resilience. 

Donate today to Friends of the Children–Tacoma to help youth and mentors have meaningful experiences as they explore greenspaces near their communities.

Mentoring Urban Students and Teens (M.U.S.T.)

A mentor and mentee at a M.U.S.T. outing. Photo provided by M.U.S.T. 

M.U.S.T. is a Seattle based organization that provides a space for Black males to liberate themselves through mentoring that supports the discovery of who they are and what they can achieve. M.U.S.T.'s three-tier mentoring model is a holistic approach  where Mentees and Mentors are supported and encouraged to take control of their own mental, physical, emotional and spiritual potential through connection and brotherhood.

Donate today to M.U.S.T. to help decrease the dropout rate for Black high school youth and rewrite the narrative of what it means to be a Black man in the United States. 

Wild Grief 

Participants in a teen backpacking program pose for a group photo white taking in the views. Photo provided by Wild Grief

Wild Grief is an Olympia-based nonprofit that provides guided hiking, backpacking, and camping programs in nature, free of charge, to grieving youth, families and people of all ages.  They believe that exploring grief in the natural world helps people heal. Their motto: Go Outside. Go Together. Go Through it. serves as a reminder that when we get out into wild spaces and connect with others who have a shared experience, we find community and resilience.

Donate today programs that harness the healing power of nature with peer support and honor grief as a natural part of life. 

Washington Trails Association is grateful to collaborate with these groups to help everyone get outside and for future generations to have opportunities to savor these outdoor places. We look forward to seeing each program continue to grow and prosper as we build a world where everyone has the opportunity to access, explore and enjoy the outdoors.