Loventure
Grants Awarded
Primary Goals and Objectives: Our primary goal is to expand equitable access to CAC’s outdoor education programming by offering 90% scholarships for 22 low-income children to attend four weeks of camp in 2027. Scholarship recipients will build skills, confidence, and a connection to nature in a supportive, community-based setting. Who Will Benefit: Scholarships will be awarded to children in the Santa Fe area entering kindergarten through 7th grade. Recipients will be selected using a need-based prioritization process. To further reduce barriers for working families, CAC offers extended care at no additional cost. While core programming runs from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for younger children and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for older youth, all children may be dropped off as early as 7:45 a.m. and picked up as late as 6:00 p.m. CAC also maintains an outdoor gear lending program, which will provide scholarship recipients with free access to items such as water shoes, towels, waterbottles, backpacks and any other equipment as needed. Outdoor Activities: Participants will engage in a wide variety of developmentally appropriate outdoor activities each week. Depending on age, these include hiking local trails; swimming, kayaking, and rafting; rock climbing; horseback riding; inner tubing; shelter building; gardening; cooking; yoga; nature-based art; science exploration; and unstructured outdoor play. Field trips to regional natural areas, lakes, and parks are a core component of the program, offering children opportunities to explore different outdoor environments. Please see the attached “Mini Trekkers,” “Little Trekkers,” “Young Trekkers,” and “Outdoor Trekkers” schedules for detailed examples of programming from summer 2025. Intended Impact: The program will expand equitable access to CAC’s highly sought-after outdoor programming. CAC’s summer camp consistently fills within 30 minutes of registration opening and maintains a waitlist of more than 300 children. Families seek out CAC not only for the wide range of outdoor activities we offer, but also for our reputation as a place where children feel safe, supported, and like they belong. To view video testimonials about program impact from previous CAC participants, please visit https://loventure.org/testimonials/. OEF funding will allow Loventure to more than double CAC’s annual scholarship support, expanding from 66 weeks of donated camp (valued at $30,360 for 2027) to more than twice this capacity. Specifically, the request includes $36,432 to provide 90% scholarships for 22 low-income youth to attend four weeks of camp, along with $3,568 to support 60 hours of Executive Director time to oversee the scholarship program. As a result, significantly more low-income children will be able to participate in a program that would otherwise be out of reach. See our SMART goals later in this application for the specific impact metrics we will measure. When and Where: The program will take place during the summer months at CAC’s two-acre campus in Santa Fe and at outdoor sites throughout northern New Mexico, including trails, lakes, parks, and other natural areas.
Established as a 501(c)(3) in 2025, Loventure is the nonprofit arm of Children’s Adventure Company (CAC), a summer and afterschool camp program centered on outdoor education. Founded in 1986, CAC has a long and deeply personal history. At just four years old, current CAC and Loventure Director Sarah Daniels was one of the program’s first participants. She later returned as a staff member and then assumed leadership of the program when the founder retired nine years ago. The summer of 2025 marked Sarah’s 19th season as a teacher with CAC. Today, CAC’s summer program serves approximately 120 children each week, reaching nearly 600 children per summer. Guided by a firm belief that all children deserve access to outdoor education, CAC donates 66 weeks of summer camp each year to support families with limited financial means. Over time, however, it has become clear that the need far exceeds what CAC can sustain. This demand was the impetus for the creation of Loventure, a philanthropic vehicle designed to expand access to CAC’s high-quality programming and reduce financial barriers to participation. Through Loventure, children who otherwise would be unable to participate will engage in hands-on outdoor experiences such as rock climbing, kayaking, hiking, survival skills, art, science, gardening, cooking, swimming, and more. Participants will develop outdoor education skills, a deep understanding and love of nature, and meaningful opportunities for personal growth, all supported by CAC’s nurturing, highly trained staff and our intentional focus on social-emotional learning, community, and belonging.