Every June, Summits in Solidarity engages the outdoors community in a hiking fundraiser that directly aids communities of color in combating oppression, meeting basic financial needs, and reducing barriers to outdoor access. My fiance Allie and I joined the hiking & fundraising campaign last summer in New Hampshire, and it was the rare opportunity, in this day & age when many of us are trying to find our place in producing a more just & equitable society, to connect that effort to the passions we pursue in the places we pursue them.
This year, Summits in Solidarity will be raising $35,000 for Black Lives Matter Seacoast (New Hampshire) and Latino Outdoors Boston. Donations to BLM Seacoast provide critical financial aid to Black residents of NH, while donations to Latino Outdoors Boston will fund an overnight camping event in the New England region for members.
I am raising this money as part of my racing the Trans B.C., an enduro mountain bike race that takes place over six days in June from Vancouver to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. This is a gift to myself after grad school, and racing super nice mountain bikes on some of the best trails in the world is an immense privilege. Knowing that, I wanted to be sure to use this opportunity to make the outdoors -- which have been an immense source of joy, healing, self-realization, and connection in my life -- a little bit more accessible.
Please consider donating to Summits of Solidarity, who will be passing the money directly onto these two great local organizations.
Those who donate $100 will be named "Day 1 (2, 3, etc) Champsions" during the Trans BC and I will be posting a video on Instagram personally thanking you. There's 6 of those!
Those who donate $50 will be named a Stage Champion (there's 36-ish stages over the course of this race) and will get named separately on the 'gram.
For those of you who want to participate more actively, Saturday, June 24th, people will be hiking to all 48 New Hampshire 4,000-foot peaks in solidarity, many carrying signs or the rad kerchiefs Summits in Solidarity sells. You can sign up to adopt one of the 48 here.
Thanks for your support!