Page 9 - winter 2019

Friends oF red rock canyon 9

local realtor and Friends board member who is
Photo by Rob Tuvell were meeting and getting to know young people
liaison with the police department. “And we too
we might otherwise never
meet.”

“Not only was our first
Seeing images of the past at the petroglyph site weekend adventure amaz- Photo by Rob Tuvell
ing because of such beau-
The teens enjoyed both breakfast and a picnic tiful nature, but we also
lunch along the way. “That’s no small thing,” watched our youth social-
emphasized Taylor. “These kids miss many meals ize with each other as well
and almost surely depend on reduced price meals as people they never met Hugs are always a good thing
when they are at school.” Nearly 70 percent of all before,” he explained.
students in Las Vegas qualify for subsidized meals.
Taylor added, “Interacting with natural environ-
“Outdoor Adventures is a wonderful new initia- ments allows our team to learn by doing and experi-
tive that is bound to alter the direction of these menting with ideas. Plus being outside feels good.
teens’ lives,” said Mike Levy, Summerlin Rotary’s Being in nature enables the teens to run, jump,
president. “We are very proud to participate. We hop, skip, climb, roll, and shout, which relaxes
already have a wonderful relation- and reduces tension, anxiety and
ship with the Las Vegas Metro restlessness.
Police Department, including our
long commitment to cleaning, “Researchers have found that
landscaping and planting at Police outdoor play calms people with
Memorial Park. attention deficit/hyperactivity
disorder, which many of our kids
Taylor, a 23-year police veteran, have,” noted Taylor. “Nature
has lived in Las Vegas for 48 years, enhances a sense of peace, and
while Parker was born and raised often brings out nurturing quali-
in the city. ties in teens. Often, when involved
in nature, even boisterous, active
“We are personally invested and teens may slow down and learn to
committed to these young men and focus on being gentle.”
women, along with hundreds of others participat-
ing in PAL,” said Taylor. “We see the results of our The police department is very excited about the
work and the impact it has on their families, who potential of Outdoor Adventures growing exponen-
are more inclined to trust law enforcement in their tially.
community.
“We have the capacity to recruit many kids. But,
“While PAL creates consistency in these teens’ it takes more than $150 per participant to equip
lives and creates incentives to succeed in life, them safely for hiking and working in Red Rock
Outdoor Adventures goes beyond that because we Canyon. That’s why we are so encouraged by the
are exposing them to a world they might never see partnership with Friends and Rotary,” he said.
or experience,” said Taylor.

“Some of the teens we accompanied at Red Rock
never saw a cactus up close. They never encoun-
tered the kind of quiet they experienced along the Photo by Rob Tuvell
trail,” he observed.
“They were meeting new people that are not
ordinarily a part of their lives,” noted Tuvell, a Does it smell like butterscotch or vanilla? The Outdoor
Adventurers take time to smell the pines.

Winter 2019