My name is Shruthi Balakrishna, based in Seattle, Washington and my goal is to summit Mt. Rainier in July 2016 for a great cause “Asha for Education”.
My Motivation
Mount Rainier is the highest and the most glaciated mountain in contiguous USA. Climbing Mt. Rainier is difficult and involves traversing some of the largest glaciers in the U.S, south of Alaska. The climb typically requires three days to reach the summit at over 14,400ft. While being outdoors have always beckoned me, my outdoor adventures have never gone past a few easy hikes.
When I heard about “Asha for Education’s fund raising climb for Mt. Rainier”, I decided that along with achieving a terrific personal goal of climbing Mt. Rainier, I will work towards a worthy cause that I deeply care about – EDUCATION.
I am fortunate to have great parents who could afford my education and empower me to learn, evolve and become a strong person. This is my opportunity to contribute to the cause of education by raising funds as I attempt to summit the highest mountain in the Cascades. I believe that “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken adults”, and Asha is striving to empower children with education.
Why do I need your help!
Asha is a non-profit voluntary organization working on more than 400 projects in India over the last 23 years disbursing over $32.3 million – all towards the mission of ‘Socio-economic equality through the education of underprivileged children ‘. There are thousands of villages in India and other parts of the world where education does not reach kids – for social, economic and cultural reasons. Asha has been playing an impactful role in providing education to such children.
GRAVIS is one of their special projects which focuses on improving the socio-economic conditions of villagers in Thar Desert of Western India. It is providing child and adult education, forming women self-help groups, establishing water harvesting wells, organizing health camps and so on. Here’s more on the Asha+Gravis effort – short video.
What am I doing?
I have pledged to donate $500 and cover my own climbing costs. I have also been training hard since the beginning of 2016. I have dedicated every weekend of 2016 to train to climb for a worthy cause. I’ve come a long way training for bigger climbs with Asha Volunteers. As I write this, I have completed many treks around Washington including Mt Si, Mailbox, St Helens, Granite Mountain, base camps of Adams and Rainier. I will also be attempting Mt Adams and Mt Baker before my final attempt to reach to the summit of Mt. Rainier.
Here are some photos from my training hikes. A big thank you to everybody who has supported me in this journey till now.
How can you help?
Donate towards my Mt. Rainier climb – 100% of every dollar that you donate goes directly to “Asha for Education”
My goal is to raise minimum of $1500 for Asha and I need the support of my family, friends and co-workers. Your encouragement for my efforts by donating for the cause will be a great motivation. To put expenses into perspective, $20-$30s will fund one month of a child’s education and living expense in India.
I also plan to donate funds that exceed $1500 to Asha’s Balavihar Project in my hometown – Bangalore, India. Every dollar helps, so no donation is too small. Feel free to email me at shruthi9842@gmail.com for more information. Together, we can make a difference.
How to donate?
You can donate in one of the following ways.
- ‘Donate’ button on the webpage,
- Via http://give for Microsoft employees by selecting “Asha for Education, Seattle Chapter”. Please let me know when you donate so that I can track it.
- A check made to ‘Asha For Education’. Please include ‘Team Asha Climb 2016– Shruthi Balakrishna’ in the memo.