Dear friends and family of CLC,
A year ago Cascade Leadership Challenge was looking ahead to this past summer, and dreaming of the things our program could do. We had lofty ambitions, including sending a team to climb Mt. McKinley in Alaska, expanding our organizational capacity to run three big trips at once, and enlarge our emerging backpacking program. We knew we couldn’t do this alone, and thus CLC turned to you, our amazing community for your support. A year later we are able to look back and say those ambitions were fulfilled, and successful. Our organization cannot thank you enough for the role you played in our continued prosperity and determination. From turning out at our auction, to enabling your kids to attend our trips, to coming on our trips yourself, your dedication to youth development was inspiring. Now, CLC is raising the bar for another year of expedition, leadership and accomplishment.
Following last year’s success with our Denali program, CLC has launched The Everest Experience, a program to empower 100 local youth to summit Mt. Rainier and to send a team of CLC climbers on a two month mountaineering seminar in the Himalayas. The summit attempt on Mt. Rainier is a two-part journey. The first; a five day mountaineering seminar on either Mt. Adams or Mt. Baker which will introduce basic mountaineering skills and safety to the youth who will be climbing. The second experience takes place on Rainier and focuses on more advanced skills, culminating in a summit attempt.
The youth are ready but we need your support to make this possible. Many of our members face financial restraints, and while we work to keep costs low, we recognize that the financial burden can be too heavy for some families. However, one of our driving philosophies is not turning away youth for financial reasons.
This is where you come in. For Giving Tuesday we are trying to raise money for ten youth to participate in the Everest Experience. This fund will allow us to empower youth and enable them to partake in what will surely be a life-changing experience.
What is Giving Tuesday you might be wondering? Well, in 2012 a group of people decided that after Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, there should be a day to celebrate generosity and giving back, thus Giving Tuesday was born. This year, Giving Tuesday falls on December 2nd, and in 24 hours CLC hopes to raise $2500 dollars, enough money to fund ten underprivileged youth on the second leg of their journey to the summit of Mt. Rainier.
Please consider donating this Giving Tuesday, and help support youth development through the Everest Experience. If you would like to support our cause, you can visit our Razoo fundraising page: http://www.razoo.com/story/The-Everest-Experience?referral_code=share. As always, we appreciate the support you have given us across the years. CLC would not be where it is without the community that backs us.
For more information on our travels and other opportunities to join our community, contact Mark Steelquist, President of Cascade Leadership Challenge, at mark@steelquist.net.
