Community Partner in Residence: Big Gumdrop Outdoors

Center for Great Plains Studies Author

08/26/2025 Added

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The Community Partner in Residence program at the Center for Great Plains Studies is a new program designed to promote greater collaboration between the Center and community organizations in the Lincoln area that engage in some way with the mission of the Center. Our first Community Partner in Residence for 2025 is Big Gumdrop Outdoors, a non-profit based in Lincoln, Nebraska dedicated to educating underserved youth about nature.

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[00:00:00.000]In 2025, the Center launched
[00:00:02.250]its Community Partner in Residence
[00:00:04.290]program, a new initiative
[00:00:05.860]designed to promote greater
[00:00:07.500]collaboration between the
[00:00:09.080]Center and community
[00:00:10.310]organizations in the local area
[00:00:12.150]that engage with the mission of
[00:00:13.910]the Center, which is to
[00:00:15.420]cultivate awareness of and
[00:00:16.820]engagement with the diverse
[00:00:18.460]people, cultures, and natural
[00:00:20.400]environments of the Great Plains.
[00:00:23.360]This program helps to fulfill
[00:00:25.110]the Center's vision to serve as
[00:00:26.930]a bridge between scholars and
[00:00:28.680]community members to champion
[00:00:30.500]curiosity, ongoing inquiry, and
[00:00:32.630]creative expression through
[00:00:34.350]connecting the arts, humanities,
[00:00:36.520]natural sciences, and social
[00:00:38.480]sciences.
[00:00:39.140]The Center's first community
[00:00:41.050]partner in residence is Big Gumdrop
[00:00:43.330]Outdoors, a non-profit based in
[00:00:45.440]Lincoln, Nebraska, dedicated to
[00:00:47.730]educating underserved youth
[00:00:49.640]about nature.
[00:00:51.000]Through hands-on activities
[00:00:52.580]that immerse youth in Nebraska's
[00:00:54.340]natural environment and teach
[00:00:55.990]essential wilderness skills,
[00:00:57.700]they inspire the next
[00:00:58.990]generation to explore the
[00:01:00.220]outdoors and consider careers
[00:01:01.930]in natural resources.
[00:01:03.380]So Big Gumdrop Outdoors is a
[00:01:05.130]non-profit 501c3 organization
[00:01:07.790]located here in Lincoln,
[00:01:09.450]Nebraska.
[00:01:10.380]And our mission is to educate
[00:01:11.500]underserved youth about nature
[00:01:12.750]and inspire them to explore the
[00:01:13.960]great outdoors.
[00:01:14.780]And we really try to do that
[00:01:15.880]through a three-pronged
[00:01:16.860]approach.
[00:01:17.720]We do after school clubs,
[00:01:18.820]summer programs, and we host
[00:01:20.080]monthly community events just
[00:01:21.370]trying to figure out how we can
[00:01:22.620]meet kids where they are and
[00:01:23.770]get them excited about
[00:01:24.720]exploring nature.
[00:01:25.680]Our most popular unit would
[00:01:27.290]probably be survival skills,
[00:01:29.110]which centers around fishing
[00:01:30.860]and setting up tents and
[00:01:32.260]building shelters and building
[00:01:34.150]campfires sometimes.
[00:01:35.640]That's one of the most
[00:01:37.130]relatable units I find doing
[00:01:39.010]with the kids here.
[00:01:40.520]And it also focuses on outdoor
[00:01:42.080]recreation and things you can
[00:01:43.660]do in the summertime.
[00:01:45.580]So usually in the summertime
[00:01:46.690]and springtime, we do a lot of
[00:01:47.850]things with survival skills and
[00:01:49.100]do a lot of those type of
[00:01:49.980]activities.
[00:01:50.680]We do have a couple other units.
[00:01:53.240]One is wildlife in Nebraska.
[00:01:54.860]So we talk about different
[00:01:56.190]mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians
[00:01:58.360]in Nebraska.
[00:01:59.260]We have some Jeopardy games we
[00:02:00.670]play. We make edible animal scat.
[00:02:02.580]We look at the Game and Parks
[00:02:04.350]education trunks and look at
[00:02:06.210]different skulls and furs and
[00:02:08.410]just kind of try to look at the
[00:02:09.830]animals that are all
[00:02:10.980]surrounding us
[00:02:11.840]and trying to show kids the
[00:02:13.040]nature that's around them even
[00:02:14.470]in their backyard or in their
[00:02:15.800]schoolyard as well.
[00:02:16.800]In Lincoln, really what we're
[00:02:18.100]trying to do is we're trying to
[00:02:19.350]create pipelines within our
[00:02:20.550]program.
[00:02:21.100]So we're starting with
[00:02:22.030]elementary school students,
[00:02:23.300]then we want to move to middle
[00:02:24.340]schools and working with those
[00:02:25.430]students
[00:02:25.740]and ultimately get to high
[00:02:26.780]school so we can create this
[00:02:27.950]pipeline where we're working
[00:02:29.070]with the kids for up to 12
[00:02:30.190]years straight
[00:02:30.980]and then have those high school
[00:02:32.300]students go back and be mentors
[00:02:33.620]to the younger youth
[00:02:34.600]and provide scholarship and
[00:02:35.900]internship opportunities so
[00:02:37.270]they can go out into the world
[00:02:38.640]and really build their own
[00:02:39.610]relationship with the natural
[00:02:40.850]resources.
[00:02:41.840]With Big Gumdrop Outdoors being
[00:02:43.590]located in the Great Plains, it
[00:02:45.080]provides us with a unique set
[00:02:46.520]of circumstances.
[00:02:47.680]It's a very critical habitat
[00:02:49.250]and ecosystem, as well as we
[00:02:50.820]have the Platte River that runs
[00:02:52.530]straight through our great
[00:02:54.010]state.
[00:02:54.660]And that itself is a place for
[00:02:56.390]a lot of the last great migrations,
[00:02:58.400]like the Sandhill Cranes.
[00:03:00.120]That's also used by the Whooping
[00:03:01.930]Cranes, terns and plovers and
[00:03:03.630]all sorts of waterfowl alike.
[00:03:05.640]And it's really cool that we're
[00:03:07.050]able to exist somewhere like
[00:03:08.380]this that has a lot of nature
[00:03:09.630]and we're able to teach kids
[00:03:10.870]about it.
[00:03:11.840]Some of the challenges though
[00:03:13.590]that exist with being in the
[00:03:15.100]Great Plains is we don't have,
[00:03:16.800]I guess, the storybook
[00:03:18.140]mountains or oceans and stuff
[00:03:19.830]like that.
[00:03:20.720]And that can be something that
[00:03:22.230]we have to try to combat to
[00:03:23.490]still get kids interested in
[00:03:24.940]nature and give them those
[00:03:26.550]opportunities to explore and
[00:03:27.770]have them be engaged and really
[00:03:29.330]excited about doing those
[00:03:30.650]things.
[00:03:31.380]But all in all, we are very
[00:03:32.870]thankful to be here in the
[00:03:34.200]Great Plains and for this to be
[00:03:35.900]our jumping off point to try to
[00:03:37.500]teach kids all about the cool
[00:03:39.370]things that exist in nature.
[00:03:41.020]Left this summer we have our
[00:03:42.510]third annual Community Lake Day,
[00:03:44.380]which is a lot of fun.
[00:03:45.680]It's kind of our biggest event
[00:03:47.040]of the summer and the year and
[00:03:48.340]we just try to combine all of
[00:03:49.590]the different activities
[00:03:50.880]we focus on at other events. So
[00:03:52.070]we'll have fishing,
[00:03:52.880]kayaking and paddle boarding
[00:03:54.630]with Lincoln Paddle Co. again.
[00:03:56.730]We're gonna be having roasting
[00:03:58.550]s'mores and then we have 16 or
[00:04:00.500]I think it's 16 or 17
[00:04:02.340]community partner booths coming
[00:04:03.760]out to share some more
[00:04:04.660]activities. We're gonna have
[00:04:06.080]food fort bringing food.
[00:04:07.280]We're gonna have lots of
[00:04:08.310]different things going on. And
[00:04:09.750]we also did a t-shirt design
[00:04:10.930]competition
[00:04:11.600]for the first time this year.
[00:04:12.940]So we're going to be handing
[00:04:14.110]out the winner's design on t-shirts.
[00:04:15.920]And so it's going to be a lot
[00:04:17.330]of fun. I'm excited to kind of
[00:04:18.980]wrap up the summer in that way
[00:04:20.520]and
[00:04:20.800]send all the kids back to
[00:04:22.110]school. We just want to say
[00:04:23.690]thank you to the Lincoln
[00:04:25.020]community and for the
[00:04:26.160]Center for Great Plains Studies
[00:04:27.650]and everyone that has helped us
[00:04:28.980]along this journey. We've been
[00:04:30.570]a
[00:04:30.640]non-profit for just over a year
[00:04:32.240]now and it's been a whirlwind
[00:04:33.710]of the last couple months and
[00:04:35.180]we're
[00:04:35.600]very thankful we're very
[00:04:37.090]blessed and appreciative for
[00:04:38.740]everyone that has poured in
[00:04:40.290]time investment
[00:04:41.360]or just sharing our posts on
[00:04:42.660]social media because it allows
[00:04:44.130]us to reach a bigger audience
[00:04:45.480]and
[00:04:45.760]ultimately make a bigger impact
[00:04:47.800]and we're really excited like
[00:04:49.550]kendall said to create more
[00:04:51.590]of
[00:04:51.600]this community here in lincoln
[00:04:53.170]continue to build this because
[00:04:54.740]one thing I always learned
[00:04:56.050]growing up
[00:04:56.640]was it takes a village to raise
[00:04:58.050]a child and we're really here
[00:04:59.390]to try to help bring that
[00:05:00.520]village back
[00:05:01.280]together and really rally
[00:05:02.560]people around the youth so then
[00:05:04.060]our youth can be successful.
[00:05:05.680]If you want to follow along or
[00:05:07.000]support Big Gumdrop Outdoors,
[00:05:08.470]if you just check out
[00:05:09.520]Big Gumdrop Outdoors on
[00:05:10.620]Instagram, YouTube, or if you
[00:05:12.090]look us up on Google, it would
[00:05:13.480]pop up.
[00:05:14.000]We're always looking for more
[00:05:15.490]volunteers to come out and help
[00:05:16.930]with events and stuff like that,
[00:05:18.640]as well as donations are always
[00:05:20.240]great, whether it's gear and
[00:05:21.780]items that we can use to
[00:05:22.920]actually
[00:05:23.520]engage the kids, or it's a
[00:05:25.010]monetary thing that allows us
[00:05:26.560]to really help grow our mission
[00:05:28.270]and
[00:05:29.360]fuel this beast that we've
[00:05:30.580]created of just trying to get
[00:05:31.920]kids outside. We would love all
[00:05:33.480]the support.
[00:05:34.320]We'd love that if you guys
[00:05:35.510]wanted to come out to any
[00:05:36.640]events and bring your families
[00:05:38.110]or
[00:05:38.320]just come and check out kind of
[00:05:39.510]some of the cool stuff we're
[00:05:40.560]doing because it's
[00:05:41.360]really impactful stuff and it's
[00:05:42.920]been a lot of fun. We'd love to
[00:05:44.390]have you guys join us.

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Community Partner in Residence: Big Gumdrop Outdoors

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