Live. Learn. Love. Outdoors.

On a cliff in the middle of a dense forest, with a river next streaming on the right and the sound of birds chirping and animals scuttering immerse you. Behind is a group of people you met a week ago who you are now traveling through the wilderness with.

Someone who loved doing this and learning new things and meeting new people was Ellie Burns. Those are the words–live, learn, love, outdoors–that carry on Ellie Burns’ memory. Ellie was a fun, loving, loyal friend and sister who had her life tragically cut short in a camping accident when a tree fell and hit her during a “bear hang” of their food while on a wilderness trip in the Grand Tetons on July 18, 2011.

In her memory, the Ellie Burns’ Foundation was created. Its soul purpose is to send kids to places in nature where they can develop leadership skills, grow confident in themselves and their capabilities, and meet new people. Kids from Lake Forest High School have been sent to any place of their choosing. Destinations have included the Sierra Nevada in California, North Carolina, Costa Rica, and many more. The foundation serves a loving tribute to Ellie and carries on her memory.

The Foundation was created by Ellie’s parents shortly after her passing. They were inspired by friends and family, even though they never thought about creating one. “We wanted to do something for others in her name”, echoed Mrs. Burns, describing the foundation as something that gives to others in Ellie’s name. “The foundation has given me and my husband a focus to remember Ellie and carry on her name.” The foundation intently focuses on giving kids experiences that they will remember and use for the rest of their lives. The kids will submit an application by the end of January and will be notified before the end of February if they were chosen or not to be sent to the place of the applicant’s choosing.

A common task that the chosen young men and women do on these excursions, is to ‘Elliebrate.’

“When someone is in a beautiful place and sees something worth remembering, they will place the Ellie bracelet wherever they are and take a picture. However, for someone to ‘Elliebrate’ they don’t have to be somewhere beautiful or breathtaking, they just have to be enjoying themselves and enjoying life just like Ellie”, said Mrs. Burns, elaborating on Elliebrations.

The foundation as a whole gives kids the experience to move away from the mainstream and be different. “Ellie was someone who would seek out people that weren’t with the flow and befriend them. The point of these trips is for kids to meet non-mainstream people and interact, a skill some people don’t obtain until college”. Kids who are chosen, such as Junior Eleanor Asma, are truly blessed and very lucky to go on such a special outdoor excursion.

Eleanor Asma has been on two separate trips through the Ellie Burns foundation. The first being an Overland trip which consisted of sea kayaking in the Pacific Northwest; the second sent Asma on a very intense National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) for a month. Like Ellie, “The idea of getting away, being with new people in the middle of nowhere and facing different challenges seemed very enjoyable,” said Asma describing her reasons for going on the trips. Eleanor shares many qualities of Ellie, such as not taking herself too seriously and being a very fun-loving person, which has led Eleanor into wanting “to be someone and something like her. I want to do something she loved and represent her in doing it”.

On Eleanor’s second trip, she chose to go Wind River Range, Wyoming because she, “wanted to be more remote. To really get away from civilization.” When it came to meeting new people on her trips, her NOLS experience took the gold. Her group was “one of the highest functioning groups” and she “ still FaceTimes one of the girls everyday. A reunion would be really nice as I still talk to most of them.”

Some kids never get the experience of meeting new people and making fresh friendships until college. Most of us float along in our high school experiences, close with the same friends from grade school into middle school, only to meet a few more in high school from the other side of town. Experience in the outside world, however, is what these trips are focused on and within Eleanor’s trips, she felt she gained, “[confidence] in my ability knowing that I can navigate through nowhere with nothing but a map and a compass, but I gained leadership skills, responsibility, and most of all patience with people.” The unique opportunities the Ellie Burns Foundation presents catalyzes the character development in these chosen few, rendering them into unabridged, opportunistic versions of themselves that strive towards experiencing the beauty of life’s experience. 

Getting away from everyday life is always an important thing to do when you’re young and impressionable, and the Ellie Burns Foundation gives students that opportunity. Who you are at Lake Forest High School doesn’t define you as a whole. Ellie let go of all the stress at home and found herself making memories with boundaries unknown. Experience nature and find out who you are outside of mainstream life. Meet new people, do new things, get outside.

Live. Learn. Love. Outdoors