Meet the Crew: Lea Thompson: Donor, volunteer and RAD woman

Growing up, Lea Thompson's first house was within the Adirondack Park boundaries in New York. No matter where she moved after that -- Alabama, Illinois and then Ohio -- she "always explored on foot, bike or car, sometimes spending days in the woods and other times just what I could fit in a lunch break."

So when Lea discovered Adventure Crew -- after attending our very first Outdoor Fashion Show at Roads, Rivers and Trails in 2017 -- she immediately became a regular donor.

"I love the outdoors and am grateful for the exposure and access I have to it," Lea said. "There are so many ways to experience the outdoors, so making sure it's accessible to all by directly providing opportunities for kids is going to support their futures. Discovering wonder and delight in the outdoors, forest bathing, nature therapy -- they all describe ways that spending time in nature has physiological benefits and supports our resiliency."

Once our adventures ramped back up after COVID, Lea started to see these impacts firsthand by volunteering with our teens. 

"It's great to hang out with the kids and see how they connect with the outdoors in the same and different ways as me," she said. "It's also fun to watch them spend time with their friends doing new and challenging things."

More recently, Lea joined our RAD Women's Collective.

"It was pitched as a more interactive way to support Adventure Crew," she said. "I still get to make donations that support the programs, but now I'm also given the chance to collaborate with leadership and other members in the community. We get to widen our scope and find the intersections between Adventure Crew, outside programs, community needs and national opportunities."

Lea's own favorite outdoor activities are hiking and skiing. She's a fan of backpacking and hopes to try out "bikepacking" soon.

The Mount Washington resident holds a degree in electronic media and has worked mostly in e-learning and software projects for education. Currently, she provides tech resources to the researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

When she's not at work or outside, Lea loves watching horror movies (and is a huge fan of Halloween!) listening to metal and post-punk music and reading the paper everyday. She's also been working to increase my zero waste practices and curating a growing collection of comic books and zines.

Thanks for being part of our Crew, Lea!