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GTD GEAR CACHES! One of the items we are tackling during our 52 Days campaign is the reality that GTD adventures will be spreading to new locations throughout the US during our next 20 years of ministry (Lord willing! - James 4:15). This poses a new challenge for us. How do we get heavy bulky equipment from Florida to other destinations such as the Grand Canyon, Tennessee, or The Great Lakes? One possible solution is "GTD Gear Caches" in which we place mobile equipment trailers or pods in strategic locations to service designated GTD adventure regions. For example, we run summer Adventure Trips to multiple locations in GA, NC, & TN. All of these locations are within 4 hours of each other. Currently we trailer all of our equipment from Florida to these southeastern destinations. It takes about 15 hours (on a good day) and $1500-2000 in round-trip fuel, vehicle wear and tear, and blown tires (a common occurrence in GTDville) - not to mention the toll of driving a heavy trailer long distances. It also limits our abilities to do more Adventure Trips outside of the summer months because the expense of getting all of our equipment back up to these states has to be passed on to our participants (which can be a deal breaker for potential groups). But with GTD Gear Caches we would duplicated our equipment, place it in a trailer (or mobile equipment pod), and locate in a protected & secure spot near a centralized airport (Atlanta, GA in this case). This would enable GTD to offer year-round adventures in strategic locations and give us the option to drive up or fly up in order to run the event(s). With the growth and development of our backpacking, rock climbing, rappelling, and caving departments we could easily run year-round events (depending on the activity and seasonal climate) in high adventure destinations. GTD Gear Caches will enable GTD Expeditions and increase our ministry impact while supplying additional funding to keep the ministry in good fiscal health. This is one viable option that we are considering that could have enormous beneficial impacts to the growth and expansion of GTD. It's fun to tackle these new challenges and it's thrilling to imagine the future of this ministry. It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!
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