Hello and thank you or visiting the site!  I have recently been selected to be a part of REI's Climb for a Cause.  So in July I will be climbing Mt. Rainier with REI's CEO, Jerry Stritzke.  How did Climb for a Cause start?   In 2013 a group of employees set out to climb Mt. Rainier, and after summiting they were hit with a flash snowstorm.  The group was stuck on the mountain for 2 days, and Search and Rescue was unable to get to them due to the storm.   The ordeal caught the attention of other employees at REI and the Climb for a Cause was started!  This is the 2nd year of the climb, and our goal is to raise money for the Search and Rescue team.  At the time of the storm that caught the group on the mountain, the two ranger stations couldn't even talk to each other.  The first fundraising climb raised enough money for a new communications system; communication is key in an emergency!  The goal for this years climb is to raise money for other equipment that needs to be updated.

How will your money be used?  The first $2000 raised will be put into Washington's National Park Fund which will go directly to the Search and Resuce fund.  The next $2000 raised will be used for gear I need and travel expenses.  Anything above $4000 will be put into the WNPF.   For more information about Washington's National Park Fund, visit their website at  wnpf.org.

I was Required to submit an essay and photos showing my love for the outdoors in order to be selected for the climb.  My essay and photos are below.

This is an outstanding opportunity for me, and I greatly appreciate your help in this adventure!!


To whom it may concern,
         My love of the outdoors comes from not just being outdoors, but helping others get outdoors.  Being outdoors is a healing experience, and my goal is to get people outdoors as a way to deal with their problems.  I myself struggle with PTSD/anxiety and being outdoors helps me out immensely. The transformation I see in people when they get outdoors is overwhelmingly positive and amazing!  I will use this experience to show members (and potential members) the true power of the outdoors.  That it doesn’t matter if this is their first time, or their 1000th time,  their first walk around the block, or they’re hiking the Appalachian Trail. I will be there to help them and make their trips to the outdoors enjoyable and most excellent. At the end of the day, we’re all in this together, so we might as well help each other out.


Here are some of the photo's I submitted.