16 Years, 16,000 ft. vertical, $1600 for Children in Poverty

(See pictures of my journey here and updates below.)

My name is Zoe Douglass. My sixteenth birthday is coming up, so I started begging my parents for a car. Just kidding! I actually asked them for help planning a fundraiser for children in need. After bouncing around a few ideas, we settled on hiking 16,000 feet of elevation along several sections of the Colorado Trail, ending at the peak of Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado at 14,433 feet.

Why would I do this? Well, I have a friend. Her name is Alondra. She lives in Nicaragua and we exchange letters through an organization called Compassion International. Alondra is one of the 355,000,000 children who live in poverty globally. When she is grown up, she would like to be a doctor. She has two younger siblings: a brother and a sister, and a dog named Lucas. One of her favorite things to do is draw; she’s pretty good, too.

Would you like to join me in my effort to help kids like Alondra? Each day I’ll post highlights of that day’s journey as an update on this GoFundMe page, along with pictures, so you’ll be able to share in the best parts without the risk of hypoxia or sore muscles! If you’d like, you can even prepare for the journey with me: the first update contains the story of our training hike a few days ago above Keystone, Colorado.

We plan to start on Monday, July 14 and complete the trip by that Thursday or Friday.

I’d love your encouragement and it would be really great if you could share this opportunity with four others, one for each day I’ll be on the trail. And of course, if you wouldn’t mind donating $16…

Where would the money go, specifically? Compassion International is a nonprofit program that partners with churches in twenty-nine countries to provide children in poverty with essential resources (food, clean water, medical care, etc.); education in various skills, such as woodworking, to make a living. This program also gives the children an opportunity to come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. After looking at Compassion International’s website, I decided that the money should go to the organization’s ‘Where Most Needed’ fund. This fund is arguably one of the organization’s most important funds. However, it is also one of the least attractive because it can be difficult to see the direct impact of your donations. The money from the ‘Where Most Needed’ fund helps children and their families who are in some kind of immediate need, such as losing their home to a natural disaster or a medical emergency.

Would you help me raise $1,600 to help give these children a brighter future and introduce them to Jesus? Just think, it’s cheaper than a new car.