"In the end we will conserve only what we love....We will love only what we understand....and we will understand only what we are taught", Baba Dioum, African Ecologist

“ We shouldn’t think about youth’s experiences in nature as an extracurricular activity, but as a vital element for healthy development”, author Richard Louv The Last Child in the Woods

"JrAHA is about getting our youth outdoors not for just an event, but to begin a lifetime of outdoor recreational experiences and to foster the stewardship of our nautral resources", founder Ed Gerhardt

Membership

You are also invited to become a member as well as a volunteer. Membership is $50.00 annually or $1,000 for a lifetime membership.  

Included in the annual membership is $25 to cover the costs for an inner city youth to enroll in any of our courses, lifetime memberships covers the costs for 35 students (an average size class). For annual membership you can order either a tee shirt or a hat and lifetime memberships can order either a polo/logo shirt & hat or fleece logo jacket as well as special recognition only extended to those donors. Membership fees are charitable deductions except for that portion where you receive goods or services.   We have special newsletters and fishing and hunting opportunities available to members in addition to the program events and classes.  

Upon receiving your pledge, we will put you onto the JrAHA volunteer instructor list.  You can access schedules for volunteering on the website calendar.

We are currently providing courses at 8 HISD High Schools and 1 Middle School.  8 more schools will be brought on in September 2009.  We are planning on conducting courses at the eight HPARD community centers this summer and conducting other Jr Angler & Hunter programs such as Hunter Ed, Youth Shooting Sports Courses and Texas Youth Hunts.  We have 1,500 course enrollments during the spring semester of 2009 and we expect a total of 6,000 by year-end with addition of the 8 schools during the fall semester and our summer programs.

What has bee accomplished so far is a major achievement and all volunteers, members and partners are to be congratulated for the time, talent and financial support they have provided.   Watch the numbers grow, and take pride in your contributions and the achievements.