Several months ago, my girlfriend and fellow five ten athlete, Vikki Weldon, told me about an idea she had for the Junior team at our local climbing gym. Vikki has been coaching the team at the Edge Climbing Centre for several years, and she wanted to create a scholarship for the kids to pursue climbing goals that they otherwise couldn't afford.
In order to raise money, she worked with the owner of the Edge, Henry Wang, and the other coaches to set up a silent auction. After months of working to get donations, the silent auction came together in April. Auction items were donated by many climbing companies, local businesses, and the Edge itself. Five Ten generously donated items alongside competitors Evolv and La Sportiva. I thought it was really cool to see the companies all step up to support a good cause.
Several months ago, my girlfriend and fellow five ten athlete, Vikki Weldon, told me about an idea she had for the Junior team at our local climbing gym. Vikki has been coaching the team at the Edge Climbing Centre for several years, and she wanted to create a scholarship for the kids to pursue climbing goals that they otherwise couldn't afford. In order to raise money, she worked with the owner of the Edge, Henry Wang, and the other coaches to set up a silent auction. After months of working to get donations, the silent auction came together in April. Auction items were donated by many climbing companies, local businesses, and the Edge itself. Five Ten generously donated items alongside competitors Evolv and La Sportiva. I thought it was really cool to see the companies all step up to support a good cause.
The auction went for about two weeks and in the end raised over $2500! Following the fundraising, kids on the team submitted detailed applications for goals they wanted to pursue. There was a wide range of applications with lots of cool ideas. One kid wanted funds to get a crashpad so he could improve his outdoor bouldering. Other kids asked for support for attending this summer's Youth World Championship. There was even an application for funds to compete at an adult World Cup. Kids who receive money will give a short presentation or writeup later in the year about how the money helped them achieve their goal.
The decisions about distributing the funds will be made in the coming weeks, but I think its safe to say that the event has already been a big success. A huge thanks goes out to all the companies and people who worked hard to put this together. I personally found it very motivating to hear about all the kids' goals, and I hope they can all get some support to help them get there!