Adventure Awaits!
Summer is here, which means long days playing outside, a chorus of “just one more story” at bedtime, and the debut of a new pajama print to inspire big dreams of adventure while raising funds for Parks California.
\
Created by Dodo Banana, the new pajama print is a partnership with visual artist and New York Times bestselling illustrator Andrea Campos of Drea’s Doodles and Parks California, a non-profit that works directly with California State Parks to engage younger and more diverse visitors to explore and steward the largest state park system in the country. Made in the softest organic pima cotton with original hand-illustrated artwork from Drea’s Doodles, the Adventure Awaits! pajama will raise funds for and awareness of Parks California’s mission to make state parks and public lands more welcoming, inclusive, and climate-resilient spaces where all people can truly feel at home. The Adventure Awaits! Pajama set will be available for purchase on June 25, 2024, on dodobanana.com. 25% of profits being donated to Park California.
“I grew up going to California parks on weekends, school trips, and family vacations,” says Fiona Montgomery, owner of Dodo Banana. “It’s the ultimate luxury to have such accessible natural beauty in our backyard, and it’s important to take advantage of that and pass on my love of nature to my kids. My son declared, ‘I love camping!’ the other day, so I think it’s working.”
Montgomery says the collaboration made immediate sense. “There are so many interesting ways to partner with artists and organizations, and I especially enjoyed working on our Adventure Awaits! print because it allowed Dodo Banana to develop a print with an artist we have long admired and also give back to an organization that is meaningful to the brand.”
The design by Andrea Campos of Drea’s Doodles features playful bears (one holding a banana!), swimming ducks, colorful forest trees, snow-capped mountains, a beaming sun, tents, campfires, and, for the discerning eye, marshmallows on sticks and flags emblazoned with Parks California's rally cry, “Parks for Everyone!”
“I moved to California 10 years ago because I wanted to build a bridge between myself and nature,” Campos says. “I quickly noticed, however, that a lot of the people I came across while hiking and camping were not from communities of color and that there wasn’t a lot of diversity in the parks or even in park leadership and stewardship. So when Parks California reached out to me, I was super excited to get involved. Their whole mission is summed up as ‘Parks for Everyone,’ and I wanted to be a little bit of that representation.”
Launched in 2019, Parks California is helping more people – primarily younger visitors and people from historically underserved communities – get to a park and, while there, create meaningful and relevant experiences. On its 5th anniversary, it is celebrating its achievements of partnering with over 100 non-profits and tribal groups to help more than 28,000 people experience one of California’s 280 state parks – many for the first time ever – so that they can start a lifelong love of nature.
“Parks California is delighted to partner with artist Andrea Campos of Drea’s Doodles and Dodo Banana on ‘Adventure Awaits!’ - a whimsical children’s pajama print that is sure to inspire the next generation of park explorers,” said Kindley Walsh Lawlor, President and CEO of Parks California. “We believe everyone deserves to experience the wonders of nature and feel a sense of belonging in parks.”
