Committed to providing an opportunity for all children to gain confidence and self-esteem through participation in outdoor activities

Charity Workout

Brian Bischof - Volunteer of the Quarter, April 2009

For the winter 2009 quarter, Outdoor Outreach is thrilled to honor Brian Bischof for building our support in the San Diego community. Every Sunday, rain or shine, Brian hosts a boot camp workout in Balboa Park. Over 100 people have donated more than $1,000 in the first three months. And the group continues to grow! Brian has been volunteering with us for the past three years. In October 2008, Brian joined board member Olin Hyde on our annual Joshua Tree Experience trip. Olin remembers Brian saying that he wanted to help Outdoor Outreach but did not like asking people for money. “The timing was amazing,” says Olin “the prior week Bulldog Drummond developed a new marketing campaign for us with the tag line: Share What You Love. So I just suggested that Brian share his love with Outdoor Outreach. Within a week, he called me with the idea of hosting a weekly boot camp.”

Brian contacted the City, arranged permission from the Department of Parks and put together a plan. Outdoor Outreach helped with all the marketing and promotion. Brian said “I was originally concerned that no one would show up and we would look foolish. No way. Even in the rain we get more than 10 people and have had as many as 35.” Participant Kim Meeker said “I had no idea what Outdoor Outreach was all about. But I saw the ad for the boot camp on Craigslist.org and now I’m a volunteer and try to never miss a week at boot camp.”

Brian is more than a jock. He’s a internationally recognized expert in web development applications and the author of several technical books on software and report writing. “Working out is a great release for me. It keeps me sane after long hours in front of a computer. Fitness is something that is core to what Outdoor Outreach is all about. It’s a thrill to share that with the community at large.”

We encourage everyone to “share what you love” with Outdoor Outreach. Please contact us with any ideas you might have for fundraising, building our base of support or improving our programs.

        

 

Brian on starting and running the boot camps:
I started the boot camps as a way to help raise money for Outdoor Outreach. I've never been one who likes to ask people for donations, but I love spreading the word about the boot camp because I get to tell people about all the great work that Outdoor Outreach does for the youth in our community. Everyone loves hearing about OO and is very inspired by it.

In the boot camp I wanted to make sure that donations are always voluntary because I want to stress that it's more important to get the message out about Outdoor Outreach and not make it about the money. Plus, some people who never heard of OO before the boot camps have joined up to become volunteers. It's great to see people take an active role in helping out the organization and this makes a much bigger impact  on the kids' lives than the money ever will.

If you want to have a fun workout and an easy way to help out Outdoor Outreach, come join us on Saturday morning or tell a friend! Go to CharityWorkouts.org for more information.