Hawk Island Park- On a Saturday afternoon, away from the bustle of Lansing, a new group of Spartans began their vision at Hawk Island Park. It was a cold winter afternoon, but you could find a crackling fire surrounded by volunteers sipping hot chocolate as they connected in the first official group outing. S’more materials scattered about the picnic table, music played, and the snow tubing hill rose in the background, sixty feet up. Three participants from the ***** program joined in, and began interacting with the volunteers. Nearly two hours of snow tubing ensued, with volunteers and participants endlessly going up and down the hill. There was laughing, screaming, racing, and tube trains---and it seemed as the hours went on, the participants opened up to the event more and more. Reach Outside, a group with big dreams to change the world for underserved kids, is just getting started. As nearly 35*** members work together in planning and fundraising efforts, this new organization is able to create events that combine outdoor recreation, novel opportunities, and community involvement. The group’s next event is scheduled for March 23rd at Planet Rock in Ann Arbor, for a night of indoor rock climbing.

Due to the popularity of the event, we went tubing twice this winter with two different groups! both groups, RDC and ******, had an amazing time! On both afternoons, there was snow on the ground but sun in the sky. Perfect weather for tubing! All participants and volunteers linked hands to go down the hill with the goal of going as fast and as far as possible in mind. Through this teamwork and sense of connectedness, we were able to compare, reflect and laughable out our many runs down Hawk Island. Later, the bonfire crackled and popped as we roasted delicious marshmallows for S'mores.