Snowtubing with Voices Against Violence

Snowtubing with Voices Against Violence 

By Ryan Prescott 

Hello all, my name is Ryan Prescott and I am a PULSE Fellow serving at Venture Outdoors. I have the pleasure of being an Outdoor Educator and Community Liaison which means I get to work with youth all over the city. I primarily work with youth in the South Hilltop region. As an Outdoor Educator, I lead all kinds of outdoor trips ranging from geocaching to snowtubing. 

On Saturday February 16, I had the pleasure of going on a snowtubing outing with youth from Voices Against Violence. Voices Against Violence is a nonprofit organization that works with at–risk youth in the Beltzhoover area.  This was the first outing I helped plan for them and, of course, I was not going to say no to attending. Who says you have to be a kid to go snowtubing!?! 

We left McKinley Park Shelter House with about 10-15 youth around 2 pm and took a bus to Frick Park. The ride wasn’t long because the youth on the trip were making it exciting. The best feeling was when we got there. I went around the circle and asked all of them if they have been snowtubing before and they said no! I was happy to help provide them with their first experience into the world of tubing.  

I remember watching the youth wait in line at the top of the hill in anticipation of going down. Rich Sr., the founder and Executive Director, said “Wow this is truly incredible; these kids have never done something like this”. Everybody involved, including me, just kept getting in line and trying to get as many runs down the hill as possible. Looking around and watching everybody grin from cheek to cheek truly does make working here an experience you won’t forget.