IU alumni to pursue adventure

With a simple tagline and a promotional video, IU alumni Matt Lowers and Jordan Sanders kicked off a campaign to raise money and awareness for their latest adventure — Expedition Mississippi.

“Two guys. Two kayaks. Two months on the Mississippi,” the two exclaimed in their promotional video.

On this trip, the duo will kayak from Bloomington to the Gulf of Mexico on a shoestring budget to raise awareness for peace and environmental issues.

The duo also plans to make a documentary about the endeavor, with the hope of entertaining audiences with their adventures as well as raising awareness about environmental preservation.

“To me, just having some time to get back into nature is the biggest thing,” Lowers said.

“It started out as just an adventure, but as we got more serious about it, we decided we also wanted to give back along the way, so we’ve partnered with two organizations so far, Leave No Trace and Paddle4Peace.”

Leave No Trace is an organization dedicated to informing people about outdoor ethics and teaching people how to enjoy the outdoors in a responsible way, according to their mission statement.

They do this through partnerships with communities and individuals who carry out Leave No Trace programs at the local level.

The Leave No Trace concept is more than 40 years old, but the organization officially became a nonprofit in 1994 and has been working to encourage environmental
stewardship ever since.

Paddle4Peace is a much younger organization, with a focus on encouraging children to be active outdoors.

“We want to get kids outdoors and on to the water where we can help them learn the tools necessary to rise to any challenge, while living with a sense of inner peace,” according to its website.

This concept aligns with Expedition Mississippi’s goals, one of which includes
inspiring and encouraging others to spend time outdoors.

“Paddle4Peace is super pumped to have us putting our name out there,” Lowers said.
“They do a couple of different things, but their biggest focus is to get kids outdoors and into nature, which we love.”

In addition to raising awareness about their partner organizations through film, Lowers and Sanders are also raising money to support these organizations by selling handmade survival bracelets.

They will be stopping at major cities along the Mississippi River to promote their cause and sell the bracelets.

They are considering selling Leave No Trace water bottles as well. Before the adventure, Lowers will sell the bracelets in Bloomington at the Sample Gates.

“‘If we can do it, you can do it too,’ Lowers and Sanders said in their promotional video.

“We’re not your next Bear Grylls or anything like that,” Lowers said. “We’re just two guys who recently got out of school and are ready for another adventure.”

Lowers and Sanders are giving back. Here’s what you can expect, according to their project page.

Amount required to fund trip $1,800
Amount acquired so far $458
Days left to raise goal amount 23

Pledge $1 or more
Lots of good karma coming your way! Donor’s name to become synonymous with “greatness.”

Pledge $5 or more
Handwritten postcard sent from somewhere along the Mississippi during the trip

Pledge $8 or more
Handmade survival bracelet made by Lowers and Sanders from 10 feet of paracord. The donor may choose the color.

Pledge $15 or more
A digital copy of the film

Pledge $25 or more
All of the above.

Pledge $95 or more
A special, “one of a kind” item featured in the video of the expedition, signed by the Expedition Mississippi crew (for example, Matt’s travel guitar, one of their T-shirts, a piece of kayaking gear, etc.), in addition to all of the above

Pledge $145 or more
Two-hour consulting session with Lowers and Sanders about how to fund your own creative project.
The respective donor will also receive a signed, numbered and limited edition DVD of the film, handwritten postcard sent from the trip and a handmade survival bracelet

Pledge $195 or more
The two will do whatever the donor requests (within reason) for up to 10 seconds at some point in the film.
Also included is a handwritten postcard sent from the trip and a handmade survival bracelet