It’ll be a steep hill to climb for the United Way of Simcoe Muskoka (UWSM) this month.
The not-for-profit is raising money through the annual Everest Challenge on Oct. 15, which sees teams repeatedly climb Blue Mountain until they’ve reached the equivalent of Mount Everest. The 8,850 metres, or 29,035 feet, is split between team members, meaning a single person would make 40 ascents while a team of 10 would make just four.
Brian Shelley, UWSM’s Chief Executive and Philanthropy Officer, says the money will be used to fund the organization’s partner agencies that deal with poverty reduction and social inclusion.
“The need has never been greater than it is today,” says Shelley. “Certainly the aftermath of the pandemic and record-setting inflation has more and more folks living week to week, paycheque to paycheque, social benefit to social benefit. And when an unplanned expense comes along, it doesn’t take much to spiral these folks into true crisis. “
According to Shelley, they’re aiming to distribute more than $700,000 per year over the next three years to different charitable organizations.
“We have people right now in our communities who are fully-employed, who are living out of their car, living in encampments, or couch-surfing,” says Shelley. “So the United Way is really, really stretched right now to support those individuals.”
UWSM’s partner agencies can also sign up to participate directly through the event, and keep 75 per cent of what they raise. “Just as much as anything, our role as United Way is to strengthen the charitable sector as a whole, not just our own organization.”
Shelley notes that there’s several different paths to take up the mountain, and that people of all shapes and sizes have participated in the past. He adds that people can take a gondola down the mountain to save their strength for the hike up.
“I think it was about 25 minutes up the hill on the easiest route, but it’s still an accomplishment. I mean it is climbing Blue Mountain, it’s climbing one of our community’s largest ski hills,” says Shelley. “But the terrains are different. There are very, very comfortable trails that you can take up, or you can take the more rugged path, which probably takes closer to 40, 45 minutes.”
You can sign up for the event or donate to a team here.
