BRUNSWICK — Chimani, Inc, recently announced the launch of a comprehensive digital outdoor recreation guide for the state of Maine, and will donate subscriptions to the guide to Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School as part of its membership with Brunswick-based organization, Teens to Trails. “Chimani has always focused on using technology to help people better enjoy the outdoors, and especially our youth”, says Kerry Gallivan. “This is why I volunteer on the Board of Teens to Trails – the organization is a national leader at helping youth breakdown the barriers to getting outside and help them build life-long benefits.”
Teens to Trails mission is to connect Maine high school students to life-changing outdoor experiences, and one way they do that is by helping schools establish and sustain outing clubs. The non-profit organization provides gear, grants and logistical assistance to outing clubs across the state, aiming to alleviate burdens placed on club leaders, who are often busy teachers.
Elaine Brassard, a Registered Maine Guide and faculty advisor to the Outing Club at Cape Elizabeth High School says, “Quick access to precise and well organized information, whether on trails or waterways or campsites makes both the trip planning process, and last minute change of plans efficient and helps to keep us safe. With a digital trip planning tool, kids can actively take a role, and they are tech savvy.”
The guide, which is in the form of a phone app, is the first state-wide recreational resource of its kind and has great potential to improve access to many of Maine’s outdoor resources. It includes details on our national park, wildlife refuges, state parks, and nature preserves. As many people turn to outdoor activities to find respite from the stressors of COVID-19, Chimani’s new guide comes just in time. There are details on how to access local conservation lands, tide charts and every public coastal access site on the coast.
“Teenagers are losing their connection with nature at an accelerated pace, “ says Teens to Trails Executive Director, Alicia Heyburn, “but enjoying time outdoors with peers is critical for teenage development. It creates love and care for each other, ourselves, and our planet. We are so pleased to be a beneficiary of Chimani’s new app because it will enable more people of all ages to explore Maine’s outdoors.”
For Teens to Trails’ audience of students in high school outing clubs, this means that trip planning can start with a few clicks on The Chimani Maine Guide app. Chimani is offering a free subscription to the app for every student in an outing club that is registered with Teens to Trails, and a 50% discount to any new subscriber who enters the coupon code “MAINE” on the Chimani website. Chimani will donate $1 to Teens to Trails for every new subscriber who uses the “MAINE” promo code. For more information about this opportunity see https://www.chimani.com/about_perks. For additional information on Teens to Trails and Outing Clubs, visit www.teenstotrails.org.
Teens to Trails continues to provide programming for outings clubs and we have 22 clubs all over the state registered with us. Some of our recent programming offered an opportunity for members of the Chevrus Outing Club to practice fly casting with L.L.Bean.
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