Discover The Forest and Get Your Community Outdoors

We are passionate about exploring nature and we hope you are too! There are many proven benefits of being surrounded by nature; children have less stress, develop more creative imaginations, experience more active play and have stronger immune systems. But daily life can be stressful, and being cooped up at the office or school doesn’t leave much time for a family trip to the forest. That’s why we’re looking to encourage Americans to take a break and get in touch with their wild side! But we need your help.

We’re looking for ideas on how you can inspire your friends and neighbors to escape their stress and discover the great outdoors. What would you tell or show someone to convince them to spend more time with their family outdoors? How could you help them get there? How could you explain all of the benefits? Think about your favorite way to enjoy the wilderness—what makes that so great?

Submit an idea from October 16 to November 13 (noon Pacific Time). Our judges will select which applicants will pass to the voting round. From November 14 to November 30 (noon Pacific Time), we’ll open it up to public voting. Rally your colleagues and friends to get behind your effort and join the public in selecting the winner.

Connect with this challenge on Twitter at @GOODmkr and #CommunityEscapeChallenge.

Submission tips:

• Include a photo or video that represents your idea. Photos should be in JPG, PNG, or GIF format, at least 570 × 345 pixels and no larger than 10MB. To include a video, use a YouTube URL.
• Write at least 3-5 sentences that explain how you would inspire your community to escape and enjoy nature.
• If you have any questions, please review these FAQs or send us an email at maker@goodinc.com.

To find out more, please visit: Discover the Forest’s website and Facebook page, The Wilderness Society’s website and Facebook page and The Ad Council Facebook page

• This Challenge is open for submissions from October 16, 2012 to November 13, 2012 (noon Pacific Time).
• Only US-based organizations and individuals are eligible apply.
• Applicants must be 13 years of age or older. Applicants under 18 years of age must have parental consent to participate.
• Submitted projects must be able to be activated with $1,000 within 12 months of receiving the grant. The airfare must also be redeemed and used within 12 months.
• Projects will be featured on this page and public voting will be open from November 14, 2012 to November 30, 2012 (noon Pacific Time).
• The project with the most votes will receive $500 worth of airfare on Frontier Airlines and $1,000 in grant funding to activate their idea.
• In order to vote, log in with your GOOD account. If you don’t have a GOOD account, it’s free to join. All you need is an email address or a Facebook account to register. You will be emailed a link that you need to click in order to validate your address.
• Read all the rules.