River City Canoe & Kayak sponsors Louisville Delegate to Youth Summit

River City Canoe & Kayak is proud to announce that following an exhaustive search, in cooperation with Louisville Metro Parks, Jefferson Memorial Forest, the Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement, and more, they have identified the Louisville Youth Ambassador, Sarah Kelty, who will travel to New York City to be part of the ground-breaking Outdoor Nation Youth Summit and Festival in Central Park. The event will span two days, June 19 and 20, and for the first time bring together young Americans from across the country to reclaim, redefine and rediscover the outdoors.

Sarah Kelty has been involved in the outdoor recreation and the outdoors over a decade since joining the Girl Scouts in 1997. Sarah’s involvement with the outdoors has led to many exciting opportunities including travel to Costa Rica in 2007 for an Outward Bound program in leadership development; travel to Cuernavaca, Mexico in 2009 for a conference with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts; attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in December, 2009 as a youth delegate representing ten million girls and young women worldwide and their concerns on international climate change policy. Sarah is entering her senior year at Murray State University where she is majoring in Spanish with a double minor in both Youth and Nonprofit Leadership, and Sustainable Studies.

“Sarah Kelty is an amazing young woman and we are lucky to have found her, and have her so excited about working with us on introducing more young people in the city of Louisville to canoeing, kayaking and other outdoor recreational paddle sports opportunities,” said Doug Davis, the co-owner of River City Canoe & Kayak, along with his wife Jessa Davis. “Sarah really brings an amazing amount of experience in working with youth and young people in an outdoor recreational environment. Sarah has been paddling for years and instructing others in paddling nearly as long. She will be working hand in hand with myself and civic leaders with in Metro Parks, the Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement, Metro Council and more, to create and run programs that can really show young people in our community how accessible the outdoors and paddle sports can be.”

“There is a crisis in our country today. Young people are increasingly disconnected from the outdoors resulting in unprecedented levels of child obesity, depression, diabetes and ADHD. We need an outdoor revolution where young ‘Outsiders’ lead the way toward a healthier generation,” said Chris Fanning, Executive Director of Outdoor Foundation. “The Outdoor Nation Youth Summit and Festival will bring leaders together for the first time to develop a national outdoor agenda, discuss youth-led solutions and receive the tools, training and resources to champion change on campuses and in communities.”

Ground-breaking and game-changing, the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit and Festival will not only provide a platform for young leaders to set an outdoor agenda and create youth-led solutions, but will also be a celebration of the active, outdoor lifestyle. On June 19 Outdoor Nation will turn Central Park into the ultimate, outdoor playground complete with concerts and cultural festivities, as well as activities such as kayaking, fishing, bouldering, bird watching and kite flying. In addition, Outdoor Nation will include a high profile Outdoor Career Fair that will enable young people, of all ages, to learn about outdoor career paths as well as get information about specific employment opportunities.

On June 20, Outdoor Nation will convene the first-ever youth-led national summit on the outdoors where delegations of 500 young people from each of the 50 states will set the agenda, lead the conversations and identify solutions. Delegates will not only craft and deliver their message of change to the country, but strengthen the outdoor youth movement by infusing young leaders with new ideas, skills and connections. Key Summit topics include: green jobs, health and wellness, diversity, service, recreation, education, media and culture.

About River City Canoe & Kayak. River City Canoe & Kayak, LLC., was founded in 2009. Located in the heart of the Highlands at 814 Cherokee Rd, Louisville, Kentucky, River City Canoe & Kayak is the area’s largest full service paddle sports location offering sales, service and fully certified American Canoe Association instruction run by paddlers for paddlers! Whether you are an advanced paddler looking for the latest gear to take your paddling to the next level, or a beginner looking for expert and helpful advice on purchasing your new canoe, kayak, inflatable, paddles, etc., we are here to make it happen for you. Visit us on the web at www.RCCKonline.com

About Outdoor Nation. Through events, entertainment, action and advocacy, Outdoor Nation is a nationwide initiative that empowers young people to champion the outdoors. This effort comes at a time when child obesity, diabetes, ADHD, and depression are all on the rise among youth. For more information about Outdoor Nation, please visit www.outdoornation.org.