"Rise Above Run" 24hrs of Mt.Pisgah

Umbrella is a nonprofit organization in St. Johnsbury, Vermont that works to cultivate a Northeast Kingdom where all people thrive free from abuse and oppression. Umbrella has been elevating the voices of women, families, and survivors of interpersonal violence in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont since 1976. As a father, partner, educator, athlete, and human, I am passionate about healthy masculinity, particularly in sport, and gender equity. Please consider supporting the cause if you can.

 

Too often white males sit on the sideline and leave the work up to the marginalized or oppressed. We can do better; we must do better!! Toxic masculinity plagues our country and leads to huge societal problems. The sooner we can move away from the archaic attributes associated with what it means to be a “real man”, the sooner we can move toward a place where men feel ok in their own skin and can decide what it means for them to be a man! There is not just one set of traits that one must adhere to in order to be a man, that is so limiting and shallow. We are layered and diverse and as soon as we start to give our young boys space to define themselves and not place them in ill-fitting boxes the sooner we will start to mend the damage that this toxic masculinity has caused.

 

As a white man, a person of privilege, father, husband, teacher, athlete, and human this is the beginning of my steps to do better! I promise that I will no longer stand on the sideline protected by my privilege but instead jump into the game hoping to shift this narrative of what it means to be a “real man”!

 

So please please help me if you can by donating to this incredible non-profit that are in the trenches doing this difficult and much-needed work helping our women and educating our young people! Please also spread the word about taking a deep dive into what it means to be a man and the ways that we can shift the outdated narrative.

 

For this fundraiser, I will climb/run Mt.Pisgah in Westmore, VT for 24hrs starting New Years' eve day into the New Year.

 

Thank you,

Jesse