Bridge Outdoors

10/02/2026

There seem to be a few tickets left for this inspiring evening at UTC hosted by Wild Ones, Tennessee Valley Chapter. We just got ours! Come join us from 7:00-8:30 p.m. on Friday, 10/2. Details in the link….

We are excited to announce Dr. J Drew Lanham as 2026’s Distinguished Lecturer on October 2, 2026. While this is a free event, attendees will need to register to secure a seat. Dr. Lanham is a cultural ornithologist, naturalist, educator, and poet, is the author of The Home Place, Sparrow Envy, and...

08/20/2026

At the end of July, we partnered with Southside Youth Development’s 12U baseball team and took the boys on an adventure to Booker T Washington State Park! ⚾️🥞🌊

We played some new games focusing on communication and teamwork, learned the seven principles of Leave No Trace, and how to make pancakes on a camp stove. The boys enjoyed skipping rocks after a hike and playing basketball with their coaches.

It was great to get outside with a new group who was eager to take in the experience! We look forward to more team field trips with Southside Youth Development in the future!

+ Thank you to Booker T Washington State Park for being a great spot to hang out and explore, as always!

08/17/2026

The Outdoor Leadership and Job Readiness Interns spent a day with WaterWays, learning about the importance of keeping our watersheds clean and doing what we can to protect and restore what’s been left to us. The interns spent the morning cleaning up Stringers Branch - they found tires, bottles, old car parts, rubber tubes, and many other unidentifiable things, and got them all outta there!

The afternoon was spent at a different creek learning about aquatic macroinvertebrates with PeriAnne, who took them upstream to catch creatures, taught many fun facts, and helped them identify the result of careful and intentional ecological restoration.

The day was hot — we are grateful to The Gear Closet for providing shade and a place to wash our hands and eat, and to PeriAnne for being wonderfully patient amidst all the chaos. It’s days like these that remind us that we CAN make a difference in our city, with small mindful actions like picking up a soda can or learning which native plants to keep around.

Thanks for the rewarding day, WaterWays !!

08/15/2026

Today, August 15th, is a hard day, but also an important day. It is the ninth anniversary of the death of our dear friend, Ryan Keller, visionary of Bridge Outdoors. It is a day that we choose to remember him.

Ryan was lost to the tragedy of su***de. The light and laughter that he brought to this world and the love that he generously gave were taken in a manner that no one will ever fully understand.

On this day, we remember Ryan for who he was and for his love of people everywhere. Ryan’s legacy continues to positively impact dozens of students every year, and as Ryan’s mom, Grace, recently shared, the growth of Bridge Outdoors makes a horrible experience a little less horrible.

Bridge Outdoors is the program that Ryan envisioned as Bridge Chattanooga before his death in 2017. And it’s kept going. In fact, we just started our 10th school year of service and it’s through the generosity of our community that we are able to continue this work.

As we remember Ryan and his legacy, would you consider supporting us with a financial gift in his memory?

The mission of Bridge Outdoors is to connect students to nature, create adventure, build skills, and inspire joy. To date, Bridge has served 23 crews of more than 250 middle and high school students in the Brainerd and East Chattanooga communities. These kids have taken well over 500 outdoor adventures. In addition to exploring their hometown of Chattanooga, students have had the opportunity to learn to swim through the Making a Splash Program, serve as summer interns in the Bridge Outdoor Leadership and Job Readiness Program, connect to local partners such as the Chattanooga Zoo for longer-term employment, and continue to receive resources as they graduate and participate in the Bridge to Adulthood Collaborative (a new program for our Bridge Outdoors young adults).

We are grateful to our many long-time supporters - volunteers, students, families, donors, community partners, school collaborators - and especially to all of those who loved Ryan.

Please know that you are loved and you are worthy of that love. Your state of mind is important and there are people to help and support you when you need it. If you ever need immediate assistance because you are depressed or are contemplating su***de, please, please tell someone. You can also call or text 988 to be connected with a skilled counselor 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Stay tuned to see what’s next for Bridge Outdoors, and if you would like to make a donation in memory of Ryan, please do so through the website of our current fiscal sponsor, First Cumberland Presbyterian Church at this link: https://app.clovergive.com/App/Giving/clodo-firstcumberlandpresbyterianchurch

08/08/2026

Yes, Girls! Go Kassidy! Kass was a Bridge Outdoors student from 6th-12th grade. She was a part of our first Outdoor Leadership and Job Readiness program during the summer of 2022, maintained jobs throughout high school and upon graduation in 2025, she knew about the opportunities offered through Chattanooga 2.0. She pursued them, worked hard - and look at her now! We are so proud of her and grateful for the hard work being done at Brainerd High School, Chattanooga 2.0 and their career partners to prepare students for solid futures!

08/07/2026

THANK YOU, GRACIE! 🪴✨

Our beloved Gracie Richards spent her first year at Bridge as an intern while she went through the Chattanooga Fellows Program program. She faithfully continued her work for 2 more years, assisting and coordinating Bridge programs full-time: starting a garden, making many delicious meals, keeping us organized, and being a joyful leader and friend to all our students. We are grateful for the impact Gracie has made on all of us, and are excited to cheer her on as she returns full-circle to the Fellows as their new Program Coordinator!

Gracie, we know you will do wonderful things in the lives of young professionals in our city — and thank you for your radiant joy and deep care for all the youth you interacted with during your time with Bridge Outdoors. 🚲🛶🫶🏽

Cheers to you!

05/20/2026

That’s a wrap on the 2025-26 school year. We are so proud of the Bridge students who got promoted from 8th grade at Dalewood Middle. Additionally, we celebrated the graduation of 9 students who’ve remained active in Bridge through their middle and high school years! We’re excited to embrace a summer full of adventure with the Bridge high school interns, tending the garden, swimming lessons and more ☀️⛱️🤿
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