Last fall, I launched the first official GeoTour in the state of Minnesota and North Dakota. A GeoTour is a series of geocaches designed to give people a tour of an area. The Fargo-Moorhead GeoTour features 24 unique caches, all placed at interesting destinations in our community. Many of the caches feature custom art by local artists. It may sound strange to a non-geocacher (muggle), but geocachers plan vacations around geocaching, and GeoTours are a big draw. Since September, we’ve had hundreds of people complete the tour from all across the world! According to the staff at the Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center, it’s been one of their most successful programs to-date.

In this new reality, many individuals and families have started geocaching as a way to spend time outdoors while adhering to social distancing guidelines. With the influx in new geocachers, I’m spending more time and money on maintaining geocaches and answering questions. It's a labor of love, but I see it as my way to give back to the community I am proud to call home.

My goal is to make Fargo-Moorhead the “geocaching capital of the Midwest” and I’m writing to request funding for an Adventure Lab. With social distancing slated to continue for the foreseeable future, I’m anticipating a busy summer of people visiting the area to geocache. Unlike traditional geocaching, Adventures do not require a physical container and can be located indoors. The possibilities for an Adventure Lab (or multiple!) are truly endless. A few of my ideas include a tour of public art, campuses, historic buildings, and parks.

My experience as a geocacher, as well as an active and engaged community member gives me the perfect combination of skills and connections to make this project a success. What I have in passion, I lack in funding, which is why I’m applying to Awesome Foundation. I appreciate the consideration and will happily address any additional questions or concerns the committee might have regarding this project