Growing Modoc

Three years ago Growing Modoc co-founders Kermit McCourt and Jenny Kapp were separately navigating the challenges of parenting their sons in a rural community with limited opportunities for their children to participate in experiential learning.  The result of the acknowledgement of these challenges, and the determination to do something to change it resulted in the creation of Growing Modoc.  Growing Modoc was created to provide learning opportunities and activities to individuals, children, youth and families in Modoc and involved surrounding communities with the goal of enhancing long-term physical and emotional health through offering experiential learning opportunities in sports, the arts and outdoor education.   We believe it is essential to include equitable access across demographic divides to these programs and activities for all individuals within our diverse community.

Growing Modoc strives to achieve our Mission with the goal of creating a vibrant and healthy community where people honor, respect and cherish all life and all individuals have access to programs and activities that support their personal, physical and emotional growth.  By offering these opportunities to all community members, Growing Modoc strives to inspire individuals’ ability to create a life that is fulfilling to their personal goals while actively promoting their ability to contribute to the community and the world they live in.  

To these ends, Growing Modoc has provided a variety of community art classes including painting and graffiti art, outdoor education opportunities including hiking, birding, and herpetological expeditions, music lessons, yoga, mini-golf, and an indoor climbing wall as well as a variety of additional activities.  Growing Modoc is also deeply invested in bringing the opportunity to experience music and the arts to our community and we regularly host live music or DJs at our downtown venue space, and are looking forward to hosting our first comedy show in this fall.  Growing Modoc recognizes that it is essential that our rural youth have the opportunity to participate in as many activities as possible and annually we provide an array of provide sponsorships to youth in our communities to participate in programming including AYSO (youth soccer), Summer Camps (including Blue Lake Camp) and Surprise Valley Wrestling.  We have further partnered with Surprise Valley Wrestling as a Fiscal Sponsor in order to facilitate providing youth in our community unrestricted access to participation in wrestling and other sports.  

One hundred percent of monies donated during this fundraiser go to continuing our programming by providing necessary supplies and equipment including field guides, binoculars, art supplies, musical instruments and funds to provide additional sports sponsorships for youth in our community.  This fall we are looking forward to providing an array of exciting new programs and activities and are currently in talks with our community partners to expand programming and education for children and youth.