Since 1989, Big City Mountaineers​ has taken thousands of under-resourced youth on week-long transformational backpacking trips that have accounted for nearly 42,000 nights under the stars. Each youth is paired with a caring adult mentor for a unique 1 to 1 youth to mentor ratio. Their curriculum strives to strengthen integrity, self-esteem, responsibility, decision-making abilities, and communication skills in close to 1,000 youth annually. BCM works primarily with youth from low-income families, often from populations that have been traditionally under-represented and under-served in our society, and has a proven track record of improving young peoples’ lives with increased likeliness to stay in school, reduction in violence, and reduction in drug use. For more information, please visit www.bigcitymountaineers.org