Big Gumdrop Outdoors hosted its second edition of its Fish n’ Fire event on Thursday, Sept. 25, at Bowling Lake at Northwest 48th and West Cuming Street in Lincoln, Nebraska. More than 150 kids attended the event to fish and roast marshmallows for the nonprofit organization’s first of four events this fall.
Funded by donors and sponsors, Big Gumdrop Outdoors’ mission is to provide experiential learning opportunities for children to get outside and explore the outdoors in the form of after school programs, summer programs and events like Fish n’ Fire.
Elijah Riley, a 23 year old from Lincoln, founded the organization via social media in 2019 while he was still a student at Lincoln High. As its presence online grew, Riley said he wanted to use it to provide opportunities for others.
After about four years of using Big Gumdrop Outdoors as a storytelling platform, he said it started to transition in 2023 into more of a community outreach program. Then, it transitioned again in 2024 into the nonprofit organization it is now in a bid to help provide more resources for the families interested in its events and programs…