TROUT LAKE — Lights, camera, action … and whitewater! For a second year in a row, the Columbia Gorge Junior Kayak Club (CGJKC) hosted its annual film fundraiser at Trout Lake Hall on Jan. 29, with all proceeds going towards their 2026 programming.
The venue space was donated by Trout Lake Hall, and in addition to the film screenings, the event hosted its first-ever live auction that featured donations from local businesses and community members. With over 100 tickets sold, the event successfully raised 50% more funding than the previous year.
Founded in 2020 by Anna Wagner, Lily Goodson and Naomi Elyard, CGJKC focuses on creating opportunities that allow local youth of all skill levels to learn and safely go whitewater kayaking in their backyard rivers.
“The world that we live in can be really challenging … there’s a lot of distraction and a lot of disconnect,” Elyard said, who also serves as program director. “Nature can really help with that. There’s a lot of life lessons in being outside and on the river.”
Elyard herself grew up in the Gorge, where she learned to kayak at 14 years old.
“I felt like there were a lot of kids who were not able to access the river and the outdoors,” Elyard noted, referring to her school classmates. She hopes CGJKC can help community members who don’t have connections or resources to learn how to whitewater kayak.
Year-round, CGJKC offers free roll sessions at the Hood River Aquatic Center and weekly summer paddles down the Class II-III sections of the Klickitat and White Salmon rivers. They’ve also offered family rafting trips through working with a local outfitter.
Instruction is led by volunteers and gear is included, in part thanks to a partnership with the White Salmon Boat Library. CGJKC helps pay for the building’s rent in return for gear storage and to borrow additional sizes of gear.
Elyard pointed to the positive effects that whitewater kayaking brings, especially the confidence that is built through experiential learning: “Watching them surf for the first time or roll for the first time … or running a rapid they swam last time, and being scared, but doing it anyway and being successful.”
Going forward, Elyard hopes to continue creating partnerships to get more youth outdoors, especially with communities that are underrepresented in whitewater kayaking. Last year, CGJKC and professional kayaker Sage Donnelly, who has Type 1 diabetes, partnered to create a pool session specifically for children with diabetes. It was a success, and their goal is to continue exploring possibilities with more organizations.
“That’s been one of our greatest challenges — tapping into those communities and continuing to be inclusive,” Elyard said. “How do you branch beyond that? And I, to be completely honest, I feel like we’re still answering that question.”
Earlier this year, the organization received the Dan Thompson Memorial Fund Grant to help with operating costs and running programs.
“The grant that we got is a reimbursement-style grant, which means that we need to have the money to get paid,” Elyard explained. “We don’t want to take out a loan, and so we really need to fundraise $50,000 to get that $50,000.”
Currently, the organization is entirely volunteer-run, including her role.
“We’re hoping to change that … If someone was getting paid to do the day-to-day, then I would be able to do more of the next steps and future vision,” Elyard said. “In order to get to the next benchmark, we need more of that, ‘What’s next,’ thinking.”
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