Out Our Front Door Newsletter - December

Day 2 of Decemberg - Ready to Roll Photo by Glenn

Welcome to OOFD December

​I thought it was the “off-season” but somehow we have all kinds of exciting things to share with ya. We have some recaps of a few great December events including the Volunteer Appreciation Party and Decemberg. We get to intro you to our 3 Star New Volunteers of 2023, and fill you in on some of the new rides we’re trying in 2024. And we even have an end of the year fundraiser with a bunch of cool Patagonia gear to raffle off to generous donors. 

Raffle Prizes for Donors to our End of the Year Fundraiser for The Youth Program

End of the Year Fundraiser for The Youth Program (and Patagonia Swag Raffle)

Did you know that 12% of all giving to non-profits happens in the last three days of the year? That’s according to QGiv which I read in a UIC non-profit fundraising class I took earlier this year. So it only makes sense to offer an opportunity for y’all to donate to OOFD to end yer year right! This campaign is focused on raising funds for our Youth Program. 

We run the Youth Program for NO COST to the youth that participate. In May 2024, we will start off with a train, bike combo camping trip to Chain O’ Lake State Park with Bikes N’ Roses. Then the summer will include a number of day rides with a variety of partners and even a second bike camping trip from Chicago to Camp Shabonna in the summer. 

Donate and automatically get entered into a raffle for some awesome gear from Patagonia.

$5 or more = you are in the raffle for a simple Patagonia cloth bag and patch

$10 or more = you are in the raffle for the Patagonia beanie

$25 or more = you are in the raffle for the Patagonia Grassroots Activists book

$50 or more = you are in the raffle for the Patagonia fanny pack

$100 or more = you are in the raffle for a waterproof Patagonia backpack

All donors of any amount receive an OOFD sticker in the mail

Help us make these amazing bike adventures happen for the next generation of Chicagoland habitat lovers and celebraters! 

Our goal is to raise $1800 by January 1st. 
​
DONATE HERE TODAY

Alex unwinding after the first day of riding on Decemberg with some accordion music in the cabin Photo by Andrew Suprenaut

Volunteer Appreciation Party

We hosted our annual Volunteer Appreciation Party on December 7 at the home of an OOFD volunteer in Lincoln Square. At the party, we got to celebrate all 48 folks that filled the 137 guide slots in 2023, and we even had our first official class of volunteers that hit their 5 year anniversary volunteering with OOFD including Breanna Bertacchi, Ben Blair, Jerod Powell, Thomas Kehrer, Ashley Huerta, Bradley Fisher and a couple of 5+ year folks - Miles Talty, Kyle Trebotich, and Glenn Schneider.

We had 30 folks at the party as we gathered around the backyard fire and in the cozy home with tacos, tamales, and beverages a plenty! ​

Volunteer Spotlight

We had the 2023 Annual Report finalized in record timing this year and goodness does it look beautiful. Lots of great stats, program summaries, pictures, inspiring quotes, and love for all y'all with a list of all the guides from 2023 including 48 separate individuals that led overnights!

The thing we like to do each year is choose Three Star New Volunteers to highlight them and their contributions as one of our values is gratitude. It was especially tough to choose this year as we had 12 new overnight guides and could have chosen a number of them. In the end, the Three Star New Volunteers of the 2023 season are: 

Maura Benson
She stepped up major with the WTWTG program and even came on as Assistant Director. She put together and ran such an awesome and fairly complex WTWTG event out to Bob Mann Woods while coordinating with two partners and putting together one of our longest WTWTG routes to date. Also, she has been putting in the time and effort to get trained up on a variety of skills utilizing the OOFD training budget which we appreciate tremendously! And she guided 3 separate overnight rides (The Good Land, The Great Confluence, and Flock Off the Block)! Maura continuously brings a welcoming and adventurous spirit to any OOFD event she attends and brings such a curious and open mindset, all of which are huge parts of the OOFD values. 

Claire Meyers
She filled a hugely important role as the Youth Program Director and really ran with it after being new to OOFD in 2023.  I’ll never forget Claire showing up to the Hootenanny this year, and simply saying, "I’m here to help, however you need me." And from there, she has consistently brought that attitude of support along with a top notch blend of professionalism and lightheartedness.  She guided some WTWTG rides this year, a Day Ride with Greencorps for our Youth Program, and was a guide on the Sun Harvest ride. Her ability to work with partners with her characteristic enthusiasm and always keep the perspective of the youth we are aiming to serve at the forefront has been inspiring to be a part of. From day rides, to adventure menus, to "Chicago or Not" slide decks, she radiates the all important welcoming spirit as well as a focus on education which are core values at OOFD. 

Erin Kwiatkowski
She stepped in to try something new to OOFD this year with our pilot rides. She brought her trademark thoughtfulness and lightheartedness to the endeavor and had tons of great input leading up to and after the ride. From there, she helped guide the Free Bike Shop Worker ride, on a Tuesday-Wednesday at that! And she was a stellar addition to the Sun Harvest crew. She has simply shown up for and as OOFD at a variety of events from Hangs to speaking on Queer Ecology with the folks at Out In Nature. Her welcoming and curious attitude radiates whenever she is at an OOFD event, and we know folks that ride with her and interact with her appreciate that a lot. It has been so awesome to officially have her join the OOFD crew this year, including being along on the Ragbrai ride!

OOFD is so lucky to have so many new, awesome volunteers. When we are able to bring such stellar folks such as these three folks into the org, it is one of the main indicators that we are on the right track as an organization.

Rey always bringing a most excellent festive bike and spirit Photo by Glenn

Ride and Event Recaps

Decemberg Bike Camping/Cabinning at Camp Reinberg
A week ago we wrapped up the last overnight of 2023 with the annual Decemberg ride out to Camp Reinberg in Palatine. Got to soak in a variety of fall/winter temps on this sold out ride of 30 adventurers. Major props to the guide crew who made it all happen! Lead guide Anson even wrote up this inspired ride recap with some great photos here.
Tabling at Patagonia 
Y’all already know that our local Chicago Patagonia stores are such amazing partners to us. And that continued as they welcomed us into their Fulton Market store to table and chat to their holiday shoppers about OOFD and get them hyped to ride with us in 2024. While there, Patagonia donated a few things to us for tabling that we get to raffle off for our end of the year fundraiser. 
Book Club - Death and Life of the Great Lakes
The most well attended book club in OOFD's years of running a book club. We had 11 folks attend including one tuning in virtually from Alaska! Our host’s Lauren and Jaime put it over the top with some homemade soup for all that attended in person. Dan Egan’s book really did draw us all in and inspire tons of excellent discussion.

Thank you to Brandon at Omnium for lending us this sweet bike to haul gear to Decemberg and Matt Weiss for riding it. Photo by Matt Weiss

The New Adult Overnight Rides in 2024

So guess what. The Adult Bike Camping trip What Lies West to Blackwell in April is almost sold out!? That’s part of the program when we are able to get our rides finalized and up in record time this year. 
In 2024, we have set the goal to fill 80% of all of our overnight slots which is 555 riders. That is 122 more than we had last year!
In addition to a bunch of classic, fan-favorite overnights, we will be experimenting with a variety of new rides including the Southside St. Patrick’s Day Parade March and Overnight on March 17-18 where we will march down Western Ave in the parade and then ride to go camp in Oak Forest at Camp Sullivan afterwards.

We are finally getting back to Chain O’ Lakes but involving those sweet new Metra bike cars for our Train O’ Lakes ride on June 29-30. We also are working to be more inclusive of those who work weekends, so we are running a Weekday Overnight to Camp Sullivan on September 9-10 (Monday-Tuesday). We’re trying a whole new concept for overnights with the Shabonna DIY ride on September 28-29 where you simply register for the ride, make your own route to the campground and just be sure to arrive by dinner because OOFD guides will be there with a campsite, fire, and hot dinner waiting for you. 
We’ll do an adjusted format for The Good Land ride to Milwaukee -  this year it’ll be 2 nights. We also are adding the new Family Overnight to Camp Sullivan in October in celebration of Indigenous People’s Day. Also, Flock Off the Block is set to be bigger this year (150 folks) and will be held at Camp Sullivan on August 10-11. 

Heading out from Dark Matter's Star Lounge on Decemberg Photo by Matt Weiss

Upcoming Events

Monthly Hang at Alulu Brewery: Tuesday, January 9th from 730pm-10pm
The Monthly Hang schedule for 2024 is finalized here and most of them are up on Eventbrite. No registration necessary. They will continue to be on the first Tuesday of every month with a couple of exceptions due to holidays including this first one which is on the second Tuesday of the month. Come get hyped for this coming year at the first hang of the year at a good brewery in Pilsen! All are welcome including folks that have never engaged with OOFD ever in the past. More deets here.


Creative Work Session at Cafe Mustache: Wednesday, January 10th from 7:30-930pm
The Creative Work Session schedule for 2024 is complete here. These sessions are a time for OOFD Volunteers and Supporters to gather to discuss bigger ideas, work collaboratively on projects, and generally carve some time out each month to get some work done on their OOFD projects. We will have themes this year that the sessions will focus on though certainly feel free to come to discuss or work on any specific project/idea you have for OOFD. The theme on January 10 is the 2024 Hootenanny. Discussion topics here (feel free to add ideas even if you can’t attend in person).


Where the Wild Thing Grow Ride to LaBagh Woods: Saturday, January 20th from 9am-1pm
Join us for a day ride to LaBagh Woods for 3 hours of environmental education and service. We will be clearing invasive brush and burning it in a 1,200 degree bonfire! We will meet at theArc'teryx Bucktown Outlet (1630 N Damen) at 8:45-9:15am where they will graciously have coffee and tea (and indoor warmth!). Register quick as these events always fill up!


Southside St. Paddy’s Day Parade March and Bike Campout: Sunday, March 17 - Monday, March 18
Join us for some South Side Irish festivities + bike camping. We will have a spot to march in the South Side Irish Parade down Western Avenue with the OOFD banner! Once we reach the end of the parade, we will get some lunch, and then ride out to Camp Sullivan in Oak Forest to camp, which is about 12 miles from the end of the parade route. We’ll have dinner and enjoy a fire with some beverages and get up on Monday morning in our tents, have a light breakfast, and pedal back to Beverly, where the parade started. For the parade march, the more the merrier! So there are lots of free tickets if you just want to come and walk with us in the parade and head home that same day. The paid tickets are for those that want to walk in the parade and bike camp. More deets and registration here. 
Ok. Plenty to keep us hyped and adventuring even over the course of the winter! Happy pedaling this holiday season and hope to catch you out there soon. 

Much love,
Glenn and the whole OOFD crew