THIS IS HOPE: THE COOLEST DAY EVER

By: Kris Friedman, Executive Director

“This is the coolest day ever!” 

A ten year old girl exclaimed this to herself (and everyone around her) as she was running between snuggling puppies and collecting her family to move to the crafts tent. 

I asked a young boy what his favorite part of the hike was and he gave me a big smile and said “the doughnuts!”

I overheard an older woman on her way back from the mountain say to her friend, “Whew, I thought I might have to turn back a few times. Another year making the whole hike!” 

A group of staff members and planning committee members (seriously – the greatest!) were debriefing shortly after and between accolades around the activities, the meaningful ways we incorporated our special loved ones, music, and fun, what we kept coming back to was the people.

Throughout the day, we welcomed more than 500 people! That’s 500 people showing up to support one another in their grief. We had family teams, company teams, school teams, and student athletes. 

And that impact extends so far beyond a single day. We raised more than $136,000 (and counting). That money supports our group nights, events, outreach, school trainings, and everything we do at Billy’s Place. Every person who registered, hiker who shared their fundraising page, company who sponsored, attendee who purchased a raffle ticket or silent auction item—you all did that! You broke the record to make this the largest fundraising campaign in our history!   

We agree, it was the coolest day ever!

More photos

See all of the photos from Hike for Hope, Rocking Through Grief 🤘🼠on our Facebook page, right here.