Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/134411
ech Treasure Hunt BY SONDI BRUNER | PHOTOS CLAUDETTE CARRACEDO Throughout the year, visitors flock to parks in British Columbia for the fresh air and lush greenery, along with the opportunity to walk, hike, camp, swim and reconnect with nature. But now, our parks are also becoming a popular stomping ground for a growing trend called "geocaching" – a high-tech treasure hunt where participants use GPS devices and smartphones to unearth hidden containers called "geocaches." And one Vancouver non-profit is using geocaching to help aboriginal inner-city youth explore the outdoors, maintain an active lifestyle, and learn valuable employment skills that will improve their futures. In January 2012, Red Fox Healthy Living Society partnered with Metro Vancouver Parks and began a pilot geocaching project to get youth excited about discovering the wide array of recreation resources available to them. It was an instant success. Members of Red Fox Healthy Living Society help inner-city youth explore their routes. "Once we all tried it, we were hooked," says Amber Morgan, one of Red Fox's youth leaders. Morgan and her Red Fox comrades are in good company. More than four million people around the globe have also discovered the joys of geocaching. It's a simple game to play: using GPS co-ordinates, participants navigate the outdoors to find hidden geocaches and then log their discoveries online. Geocaches can be anything, from dollarstore trinkets to educational information about the location where the geocache is hidden. The fun is in the hunt, not the find. Emma Sutherland, executive director of Red Fox, says that geocaching is one of the organization's many programs Spring 2013 I Vancouver Foundation l page 25 p24-27 Geocache_Giving.indd 25 13-05-22 1:42 PM