Climb for Equality

To the thrill seeking, humanity loving, passionate folks that grace our walls: 

We are asking you to join us in solidarity. 

We live in tumultuous times. Current events have further illuminated the realities of inequality in our society. As a community, it’s important for us to support each other and compel one another to listen, learn, and act.

Our strongest asset is our passionate community. It is this community that continues to give us hope and inspires us to act. We at MetroRock Vermont (https://www.metrorock.com/burlington)  want to do our part to show where we stand and support causes we believe in. In hopes of doing so, we announce Climb for Equality: a fundraising event in support of social justice. This event will allow us to engage with our amazing family of climbers that continue to call our climbing gym home. 

Climb for Equality will be a week-long climbing and fundraising event beginning Saturday August 15th. To participate in this event, we are requesting a $20 minimum donation for Metrorock members and a $40 minimum donation for non-members. This fee will include all climbing and rentals needed for the week. We would like to emphasize that this is a minimum requested donation. Any donations beyond these amounts are welcomed. Donations will be collected through Go Fund Me beginning on Aug 15th. This will allow those not participating to easily donate while allowing those who are participating to donate more. Go Fund Me will also allow for transparency as we share the donations made at the culmination of the fundraiser. 

We plan to kick off this event with an initial donation of $500 from Metrorock in hopes of encouraging the members of our community. We understand that the pandemic has created financial insecurity for many, and understand if the minimum may be all you can afford or if you are not able to financially contribute. We encourage our participants to engage with their own communities in garnering support as well, such as families, friends, co-workers, and so on.  All Proceeds will be equally divided among the three organizations below: 

Boys and Girls Club of Burlington https://www.bandgclub.org/ 
Southern Poverty Law Center: https://www.splcenter.org/
Black PAC: https://blackpac.com/

Those participating in the event will be asked to provide a screenshot of their donation. They  will then be given a scorecard to record either their 10 hardest rope climbs or 20 hardest boulders throughout the week. Scorecards will be available on Saturday, August 15th, and will be collected by 4:00 PM on Friday, August 21st. Once tabulated, scores and standings will be posted online. On Friday evening the event will culminate with a mask/social distance requisite outdoor concert in the Metrorock parking lot, with performances by local bands Brickdrop and Sabouyouma. This event is free for participants with remaining tickets sold on a first come first serve basis.  At this event there will be random prizes drawn for all participants in the week long climbing event.  

As a week-long event, we feel that this allows us to demonstrate our passion while also being considerate of the pandemic and remaining in compliance with all policies and procedures designed to keep us all safe. For those participating in the event, please do your part by continuing to adhere to these policies (Link to Metrorock Covid policies). 

As always, we are eager to receive any constructive feedback and welcome all opportunities to improve ourselves as an organization.