By Antonio Rufin, WNPF Board of Directors and member of WNPF’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee
There are few times more magical and genuine than the moment when a child discovers a new facet of the natural world. As an adult witness to that moment, it is hard not to be moved and recall the intense emotion and the joy that you experienced as a child when natural wonders were revealed to you for the first time. National parks are places where this magic happens.
The weekend of June 25, 2022, the clouds and gray days of a prolonged northwest ‘Junuary’ finally broke, turning into much-longed-for glorious, warm, first sunny days of summer. Mount Rainier, Tahoma or Təqʷuʔməʔ, the life-giver of the ancient peoples, stood out in all of its white glory against a rare cloudless sky. There were still nine feet of snow around Paradise, with streams and puddles of rapidly melting snow everywhere, and Mount Rainier National Park had a lot of visitors on that Saturday.
Late that morning, the chartered bus we – Mount Rainier National Park rangers and Washington’s National Park Fund staff and board member volunteers – were anxiously waiting for finally arrived in the parking lot. Children and their adult family members exited the bus, while the older kids made a dash for the nearest snow embankment, where they proceeded to promptly engage in a giggly snowball fight while their adult caregivers looked on, broad smiles on their faces.
For some of the children, this was their first snow experience. Everyone was in awe at the magnificent views around us.
The roughly 50 visitors, most of them new to Mount Rainier National Park, were families from Mary’s Place in Seattle. Since 1999, Mary’s Place (https://www.marysplaceseattle.org/) has helped thousands of women and families move out of homelessness into more stable situations. Across five emergency family shelters in King County, this amazing nonprofit organization helps keep families together, indoors, and safe when they have no place else to go, providing resources, housing and employment services, community, stability, and hope.
Their day trip to Paradise was made possible through the generosity of and leadership of a group of volunteers from Amazon, Outdoors@Amazon, in partnership with Washington’s National Park Fund and the National Park Service staff at Mount Rainier National Park.
After a warm greeting from park staff, visitors were provided with boxed lunches. After lunch, they had the opportunity to choose their own adventure. Some took part in a short guided hike on rather slushy trails, nonetheless rewarded with spectacular views of the mountains and marmots at play, while others took a tour of the National Park facilities around Paradise, learned about the Junior Ranger program and Mount Rainier, or simply played in the snow perfecting their glissading technique.
One of the most memorable moments was towards the end of the visit, when a Ranger led the proud children on the Junior Ranger Pledge, standing at attention with their right hands raised:
I am proud to be a National Park Service Junior Ranger. I promise to appreciate, respect, and protect all national park places. I also promise to continue learning about the landscape, plants, animals and history of these special places. I will share what I learn with my friends and family.
I think some of us were crying a little as the children ran around, excitedly showing off their shiny new badges.
And then it came time to say a reluctant goodbye. As we waved at the departing bus, we found ourselves wishing for these families, and for families like them, to be able to soon continue to experience the magic of our state’s amazing national parks.
Washington’s National Park Fund is committed to equity and inclusion of all people, a commitment we share with the National Park Service and Washington’s three largest national parks. We strongly believe that by actively funding projects that give access and opportunities to traditionally underrepresented communities — and by building an organization whose donors and partners represent diverse cultures, backgrounds, and life experiences — we become more fruitful stewards and champions of Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. Learn more about our efforts.