Fishing from the dock at last year’s Great Outdoors Party. Credit: Blue Sky Fund

The Blue Sky Fund is one of my favorite non-profits in Central Virginia. I’ve featured their work here before as well as in columns in the Times-Dispatch. If you’re unfamiliar with the group, Blue Sky Fund exists to “to get inner-city kids out into the great outdoors for various types of experiential education,” says their website. “We educate and mentor at-risk youth through two primary methods of programming: outdoor adventure and experiential science education.

Pretty cool, right? And pretty darn important, too. Well, on April 12th from 2-6 p.m. Blue Sky Fund is throwing a party/fundraiser — the Great Outdoors Party — and everyone is invited.

Blue Sky Fund business manager Amanda Payne told me that last year the Great Outdoors Party drew about 250 adults and 200 kids to a riverfront property near the Huguenot Bridge in Richmond’s West End. There they found outdoor fun including live music, cornhole, a fire pit, fishing from a dock, food, drinks, gourmet s’mores, bounce houses, ladder golf, and more. This year it’ll be more of the same, only at a riverfront property called Rock Bottom one door down from last year’s.

Payne said the event grew out of a big campout the group used to hold on a different property farther up the James River. By eliminating the camping aspect, they hoped to grow the event, which last year raised about $12,000 for the group. The goal is top 500 guests at this year’s party.

“So far registration has been a little slow, but people tend to procrastinate buying tickets to things,” Payne said. “I think the weather has been a big factor, too.”

The cost is $50 a ticket for adults (16 and up) and $10 for children (ages 4-15 years old). Tots three and under are free.
Tickets include food and drink. And, of course, all the proceeds go to this great cause. Sponsorship opportunities are available, as well. Click here to find out more and to buy tickets.