The fundraising for outdoor adventures for Lincoln Alternative High School students in Walla Walla, WA started in the spring of 2010.  The catalyst was the lasting impact of love and hope that Young Life adult mentors had on 30-year-old local Gabriel DeLong when he was in high school.  This 65-year-old international Christian ministry, whose mission to befriend kids through joyous games and the truth that Jesus is the inventor of laughter, loud music, and never-ending friendship, had never been introduced to the Lincoln student body.  Adult volunteers who believed in the cause joined with Gabriel to meet kids at lunch weekly and invite them to “the Young Life party” every Thursday night, in local homes and parks.

Organizing weekend yard sales seemed to be the easiest avenue to raise the money and compassion to send these high school students to Young Life summer camp.  Every year the numbers of students interested grew and so did the community support.  After three years of dozens of yard sales in multiple locations $60,000 had been raised to take 50 students from Lincoln Alternative High School to have “the best week of their life” at Washington Family Ranch; 25 went on a spring break trip to the Oregon coast; 12 went sledding in the nearby mountains; 8 enjoyed day trips fishing; countless ate blizzards from Dairy Queen; easily 300 came for weekly pizza, monthly activity nights at the YMCA, and weekly home parties.  These students experienced newfound joy and laughter, consistent friendship and food, a safe gathering to ask questions about God, and the security of acceptance despite many fears and uncertainties looming at home. Countless adult volunteers, teachers, business owners, local government officials, law enforcement officers and parents throughout the Northwest were rallying to sponsor a lasting impact of the love of Jesus, in these students’ hearts.  Gabriel patiently earned the right to be heard, communicated in word and deed that they (the Lincoln students) are God’s greatest treasure, and wanted everyone to know, “What a gift it is to be loved unconditionally!”

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Walla Walla’s population continued to grow and so did the need for youth activities and adventures.  This need became especially apparent on the spring break “Loved by God” Oregon coast beach trip when sixteen out of the twenty high school students saw the ocean for the first time!  This was an eye-opening realization, for the five adult leaders, that an increasing population of youth wasn’t being given the chance to see, feel, smell, and celebrate the beauty of creation!  Three new questions stirred in their hearts those five glorious days at the beach:  How can we better care for teens?  How can we facilitate more outdoor adventures, so that the next generation can treasure exploring and preserving it?  How can teens experience that God loves them and created all this beauty for them to enjoy?  Yeehaw Aloha Youth Adventures was conceived shortly thereafter.

Hosting 10-yard sales in one year, birthed the idea to have a store that could fund youth adventures year round, host a safe teen hang-out, and equip students for the workforce.  The Country Store, a local antique mall, caught the vision and donated a booth, to help the mission take root and get out of the elements.  Lincoln students volunteered weekly to earn funds towards a week at Young Life camp in Canada, a week at a Christian camp in Idaho, and other short trips of fishing, inner-tubing, and tent camping.   The weekly parties continued at the YMCA and in local homes with donations of food from Phoumy’s Thai Cuisine, Big Cheese Pizza, and the Christian Aid Center.  Thankfully, Rancho Villa and Blue Mountain Storage each donated one storage unit to help contain the abundance of used items donated daily. 

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Through 2016 and 2017 hundreds of volunteers and a dozen local businesses pitched in to make a safe and beautiful thrift store.