[at-l] Wilderness Heals fundraiser hike-a-thon

[Cleo <scwolf@together.net>]

Fund raising hike in the Whites, some of you might be interested: perhaps
someone still on the other list would forward it to them?


>go to www.elizabethstonehouse.org to find out more about the hike and
>the organization it supports.
>
>Wilderness Heals is a three-day women's hike-a-thon that takes place in
>the White Mountains each June. It began three years ago when, after
>participating in the first Boston-NewYork AIDS Ride, I got the idea that
>it would be fun to do an athletic-type fundraiser for women that took
>place in the woods. I had never done anything remotely physically
>challenging before I signed up to do the Ride, and, just like the
>brochure said it would, it changed my life. I got in great shape, yes,
>learned how to train and how to push past my perceived physical limits,
>etc. But mostly I discovered the mountains and hiking--two things I'd
>been only vaguely aware of during my suburban New Jersey upbringing and
>my adult life in urban Boston. I started hiking as cross-training for
>the Ride, but ended up loving the mountains way more than the asphalt
>(big surprise, I know...). Through hiking I uncovered a whole level of
>strength, courage, and will to move through my fears (of which I had
>many, being a survivor of both childhood violence and the murder of two
>women very close to me in 1988, which the Advocate story is about) that
>I never would have imagined I possessed. It was a deep healing
>experience. So I set out to create an event that would give other women
>the opportunity to have this same kind of experience in the mountains,
>and I came up with Wilderness Heals.
>
>I approached the women at the Elizabeth Stone House about doing the hike
>to benefit them because they are an organization that helps women and
>children heal from violence. They run both a battered women's shelter
>and a women's alternative residential mental health program, as well as
>transitional housing and a whole host of related programs that help
>women get back on their feet after violence, both in childhood and in
>adulthood, has overwhelmed their lives. They are one of the few battered
>women's programs that understands and can deal effectively with battered
>lesbians, as well as one of the only programs anywhere that really deals
>with the mental-health effects of antiwomen and antiGLBT violence in our
>culture. They serve women from throughout New England and across the
>country.
>
>The hike is both a fundraiser for the Elizabeth Stone House (each hiker
>needs to raise a minimum amount of money, usually $1,000) and a
>team-oriented challenge event for the participants. Some participants
>are already hikers or other kinds of athletes. Some have never done
>anything physical before and want to take on a big challenge. Many  are
>themselves survivors of some kind of violence. Some are current or
>former residents of the Stone House. I would say that just about
>everyone does the hike both for their own healing, physical and/or
>emotional, and to give something back to the community. For many, the
>fundraising aspect of the event is the most challenging part--and just
>about everyone exceeds her own goals in this regard. We also do
>corporate fundraising to help underwrite hikers who, due to
>circumstances in their own lives, can't raise as much money as others.
>
>Wilderness Heals is entering it's fourth year in 1999. The first year,
>40 women participated and we raised over $70,000. By the third year,
>close to 90 women participated and we raised over $130,000. This year
>the event will be a bit smaller, with 40 women participating again. It
>will take place the last weekend in June in the northern Presidential
>range. Anyone interested in registering or learning more can check out
>the website--though I don't think it's been updated with '99 dates,
>route, or other details) or call (617) 522-3659, x203 and speak to Beth
>Schultz. 
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