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land should be preserved as a public park and decided to purchase the property to prevent its development and honor his recently deceased father. With the help of his friend, the Nature Conservancy’s Huey Johnson, they bought the land and created a nature education facility. Volunteers— including Slide Ranch’s rst director, Eddie Washington and his wife Susie Washington- Smyth, along with members and associates of the Grateful Dead circle—spent months removing trash, repairing crumbling buildings and building a geodesic dome to serve as a main program area. From there, they began to build educational programs to connect urban city kids to nature, and Slide Ranch was born.
e e ect that Slide Ranch has on its program participants is undeniable. e impact is so broad that the big and little moments are equally memorable. It could be the rst time a child digs up a potato from the ground (you’d think they had discovered gold!) or the moment, while enjoying their picnic at the edge of the
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ocean, they see dolphins sur ng the waves. ese are the seeds of inspiration that make Slide Ranch so special.
“Nature should be fun,” says Marika. “At the start of every program we gather for our welcome circle and we tell everyone that there are three challenges here – get dirty, try something new, and above all, have fun.”
Mounting research shows that getting outside and exploring the natural environment is also critical to children’s physical health and cognitive development. It not only provides a wonderful teaching ground, but it also helps kids de-stress and unplug from city living.
Just one day at Slide Ranch can change the way a child views themselves and the world around them.
Marika concludes: “When you see the face of a child light up as they eat food they harvested from the garden, milk goats, go on a hike or see the ocean for the rst time, you know you’ve made a connection.”
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Facts and Figures:
• In 2014 Slide Ranch welcomed 10,000 visitors
• 63% of their School and Community Group program participants were children from underserved, low-income communities and received nancial aid
• 86 different Bay Area school and community groups experienced their programs
• 6,000 visitors milked the Slide Ranch goats (who produced 820 gallons of milk!)
• Their chickens produced 6,500 eggs
• Over 1.4 tons of produce from the Slide Ranch garden was grown, har- vested and consumed by Slide Ranch program participants and staff!
• Every single program is subsidized by donations!
Mission of Slide Ranch
We cultivate healthy bodies and minds and foster future generations of environmental stewards. By farming, cooking, caring for animals and exploring wilderness and the coast, we teach people of all ages to see the connection between their own health, a healthy food system and a healthy environment.
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Slide Ranch works hard to connect people of all ages and diverse communities to their programs. ey believe every single child deserves the chance to learn how animals, plants
and nature are connected to our
daily lives. As a 501(c)(3) nonpro t, all of their programs are subsidized by donations. You can help plant a kid in nature by making a gift online at www.slideranch.org/donate or calling 415-381-7610. ank you.
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Slide Ranch