2019 Annual Report

We are honored to share with you our 2019 Annual Report. Now more than ever, we know how important it is to work together. The support from our readers and donors literally keeps our youth on the trail to discover the potential they have to find the gifts they’ve come into this word to share. 

Click the image to view the report.

Thank you for being part of our Sacred Rok community, which gives us the privilege to continue sharing with our youth the realm of higher education nature’s way. 

Ron Kauk - Executive Director

Katie Lambert - Chief Operating Officer 

Being Inspired by Yvon Chouinard – a True Yosemite Climber

 As a pioneer of the 60’s, with routes like the North America Wall on El Capitan, it’s obvious that Yvon learned the art and respect for the natural laws that exists in such an environment.  

He built this into his company - with an environmental awareness and his visionary commitment through Patagonia’s pledge to environmental campaigns.

 Ron Kauk has been a Patagonia Ambassador for over 15 years. The ripple effect of this relationship has grown into a collaboration for the vision of Sacred Rok to continue to represent what Yosemite has inspired in Ron has a Yosemite climber, too. 

Ron on El Capitan, following in Yvon’s footsteps

 Yvon and his company are showing the world what good business can look like to create a healthier planet by taking responsibility. Sacred Rok has committed to this way of imagining a better world through the investment in our youth. 

 We are honored that as an Environmental Grants grantee Yvon and Patagonia will match your donations; Especially at a time when higher education nature’s way will be critical for our future generations. 

Always with respect and humbleness we thank you for willingness to support us. 

Katie Lambert - COO

Ron Kauk - Executive Director

Understanding the Wisdom of Nature

 As we have a decade of experience learning from our youth the value of facilitating the ceremony of nature we are extremely honored to have partnered with San Benito County Probation for five years. Through day trips to Pinnacles National Park, where board member Steve Shackleton served as Super Intendant, and camping trips to The World Heritage Site of Yosemite National Park, a unique opportunity has been provided for all of us to gather in such beautiful places that our parks provide. 

 These are incredible classrooms for the entire world and the experiences of our youth is proof of the importance of building a foundation with nature. 

 Our young people’s own accounts of their last camping trip supports the commitment we have always had for the simplicity of helping our kids respect nature and through that to respect themselves. 

So I got to go Yosemite, it was so beautiful nothing you would think of! The water is very pure and clear and taste so good. We got to sleep outside in a tent. It didn’t even feel like we were locked up. I had never even been there before and to say I got to go while I was locked up is crazy. There are beautiful trees, mountains, creeks, everything about it was cool. We talked and talked about anything and everything. We talked about how you can be educated in many ways than just school. I think this experience was important in many ways because it lets us get away from all the stress and pain we go through. It made me feel like I am not myself but someone better; I can be someone better than I was. It's crazy to think the things you have to do to get here. - JG

When I was pulled out of class I thought I was in trouble, but no we packed our stuff and jumped in the van and were on our way to Yosemite. I had never gone to Yosemite so I was excited. I had heard about it and seen pictures of waterfalls and stuff so I couldn’t wait. The ride up was bumpy but we stopped at a bomb restaurant. The view of the Yosemite was beautiful, all the trees and creeks. When we first got there we took a walk, we met Ron who a super chill guy. We talked, real talk, Ron understands our struggles. When we talked I felt good, no matter what I said Ron always has something positive to say. Super cool vibes! We went on super cool hikes, all in all, the trip was one for the books! Something I will never forget! - MV

Going to Yosemite I realized how beautiful life really is and how there is so much more to do in life than to be getting in trouble. There are better things to do like hiking, and being around family. Being around Ron and the amazing people I was with made me feel so happy. This experience made want to start being around family again and do positive things in life. I never thought I would go hike up 8 miles in my life, going to Yosemite made me feel like a whole new person. - AL

My experience at Yosemite National Park was the best experience I've ever had. Yosemite is a great place to be, to feel and be you. You're able to get thigs off your mind and have fun. There are so many beautiful things to see! Now it's your turn!!! - EL

Our collective future depends on the ability for the next generation to understand the natural laws. This is what we mean by education nature’s way. 

We deeply appreciate your support to continue with our commitment to the higher education available from the wisdom of nature. 

With Respect, 

Ron Kauk 

At Risk of Nature Deficit Disorder

In the dense Blue-Ridge Forest of Appalachia I climbed on rock for the very first time. It was 1995 and I was a wayward teen from the Deep South, longing for some kind of deeper connection. With that very first touch of rock against skin a spark was ignited, my soul touched by something so profound that it would take years for me to understand.

Over the last few decades since that first interaction I’ve come to know more. That summer spent learning to climb, camp, and backpack in the mountains outside of Boone, NC opened up the natural world to me. Rock climbing was the vehicle which brought me closer to nature and as result closer to knowing myself as a human being. This relationship gave me purpose and became the foundation for my adult life.

This past winter Sacred Rok hosted it’s first intern. A young woman from just outside of Boone, North Carolina reached out about her high school senior project; she was very interested in climbing for health and in the process of her research had come upon an article I’d written about the very topic.

<www.climbing.com/people/out-on-a-ledge-the-mental-health-benefits-of-climbing/>

In the article I talk about the health benefits of time spent outside and the work we do at Sacred Rok. Intrigued by this she reached out to us about doing an internship in February.

She came to Bishop for a l long weekend and returned home filled with such inspiration that it gained the attention of some of her climbing teammates. Other youth wanted to experience the Sierra and Yosemite, and the life-changing potential of time spent communing the body, mind and self in nature.

Five young people, ages 16-21, spent 4 days with us camping in Tuolumne Meadows. It was an exceptionally memorable trip. All of these youth are rock climbers to some degree and while climbing was something we shared with them a lot of our time was spent hiking the domes, watching sunsets, swimming in the river and sharing stories of experiences- past, present and future- over the campfire.

On their last evening we took them up the frontside of Lembert Dome to its summit to watch the sun dip beneath the horizon, painting the Sierra in that quintessential fuchsia glow. We were the only people up there that evening. The beauty was beyond capture in picture or words. It was such that it made it’s way into your chest, depositing itself there for later use - For those times when we find ourselves in stressful situations, detached from the ceremony of nature or closed in by the demands of our modern lives.

This group of young people was a slightly different group than we normally work with but through our 10 years as a non-profit we have come to see more and more that we are all at risk, regardless of economic status or location, of developing Nature Deficit Disorder. Our lives are so governed by structured time indoors at school, work and home that we’ve largely isolated ourselves from the reality that we are nature and that everything we see outside is reflected in ourselves as human beings, as creatures of the natural world. Due to this we have become disconnected and foreign to the world of plants and animals, from dirt; from the elements that keep us grounded, healthy and whole.

As we stood there communing with the place and each other one of the youth said, “I mean what are the chances that we would all be up here together like this?”

It was that one click of the finger on my article by Mary that was the impetus for the whole trip, for the whole experience that we were able to provide these young people, for opportunity to experience education nature’s way and the ability to come back into ourselves through a connection to the natural world.

It is due to my experience in life with climbing as a way to develop a relationship with nature that I was able to share that insight through my writing and that rippled out to bring us all together there in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Standing there that evening there was a spark of the imagination for these youth about how to live a life in balance and harmony. It was that same spark that had been ignited me all those years ago in the nature of North Carolina and here we were bringing it back full circle, facilitating the ceremony of nature for them each to experience in their own way and to take back with them.

With respect,

Katie Lambert - Chief Operating Officer