Brooklyn to Alaska was created 12 years ago by Sam Gregory, a local attorney who loves that outdoors and wanted to share experience with urban youth.
[Ads /]
A group of teens returned from Alaska in late July, including Zachary Byrd, who loved the Alaskan wilderness thousands of miles away from his home in Crown Heights.
"I'll be honest, I wasn't so good at rowing but was good at everything else," he said. "My mom has a joke, I'm going to be the one who will buy a house in the middle of nowhere and still have a home in the city."
ABC7 Unite: Black-owned businesses look to each other to survive coronavirus pandemic
The 19-year-old and nine other teens from all over Brooklyn spent 22 days hiking, climbing glaciers and camping in a national park.
"They learned wilderness cooking, learned how to read water," Gregory said.
Gregory adores Alaska, where he bought a small cabin years ago -- and had an idea.
He's an attorney, and some his clients were from the roughest sections of Brooklyn.
"I said, these guys never get to do what I did when I was young," he said. "So why not see what we can do get a program going."
[Ads /]
That was back in 2007, and since then, more than 100 teens have now have made the journey, overcoming challenges and building self confidence.
"When these kids go up there and they fit in and adjust to the wilderness, they realize, hey, look, we belong here," he said. "That America belongs to us, and we belong to America."
ABC7 Unite: Public Allies offers new opportunities to young people
An annual fundraiser helps pay from for most of the kids expenses, which can run $4,000 per teen.
Byrd wants to be a pediatric surgeon, confident lessons learned in Alaska will come into play.
"It's added to my skills of being a leader, changed the way I see the world," he said.
[Ads /]
For more information or to make a donation, visit BrooklynToAlaska.org.
MORE ABC 7 UNITE
See more stories at abc7NY.com/unite
SEND STORY IDEAS TO EYEWITNESS NEWS
Watch Here & Now
Here & Now episode archive
RESOURCES
We are also publishing resources in a range of areas, which will grow and can be found below:
Ways to Help
Black Lives Matter
Black Voters Matter Fund
NAACP
National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform
No New Jails NYC
Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY)
Black LGBTQIA + Migrants Project
Teaching the Next Generation
Black Lives Matter at School
Creating Space To Talk About Racism At Your School
Teaching for Black Lives - Rethinking Schools
Black-Owned Bookstores in New York and New Jersey
Cafe con Libros (Brooklyn)
Grandma's Place (Harlem)
Sister's Uptown (Manhattan)
Source of Knowledge (Newark)
The Lit. Bar (Bronx)
The Little Boho Bookshop (Bayonne)
Books
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
Podcasts
1619
Black Wall Street 1921
Jemele Hill is Unbothered
Still Processing:
Movies
American Son: Available on Netflix
If Beale Street Could Talk: Available on Hulu
Just Mercy: Available on Amazon Prime
Selma: Available on Amazon Prime
The Hate U Give: Available on Amazon Prime
When They See Us: Available on Netflix
Documentaries
13th: Available on Netflix
America Inside Out with Katie Couric: Available on National Geographic
Becoming: Available on Netflix
I am Not Your Negro: Available on YouTube