On my 10th anniversary of moving to the beautiful Pacific Northwest and the 100th anniversary of the National Parks system, I’ll be attempting to climb Mt. Rainier this year. While researching companies I could climb with, I found that I could pair my love for the outdoors with a great cause. My climb with ASHA will be to raise money to bring joy to the simple lives of thousands of Indian villagers in the deserts of Thar of Western India. This short video shows what GRAVIS is all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPrPDVLa49Q
I know everyone has charities they support but if you’re looking for another great cause to donate to this year, please support my climb and donate towards a child’s education and women’s welfare in one of the poorest regions of India. Every dollar donated makes me smile bigger too.
Climbing Rainier is quite the commitment and I’ve been training for several months now. Below are some pictures of my attempts to Summit Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Baker this year. Each one of these climbs taught me something new and made me push my limits. In just a few days I’ll be climbing Rainier on the July 4th weekend. Please cheer me on in possibly one of the most dangerous, hardest physical and mental challenges I’ve taken on in my lifetime.
Some pictures: https://1drv.ms/f/s!ArdCj1KhzG40l_ADThPXWiJ4EEUaxg
How can you help?
My goal is to raise USD 1500 through this climb. All donations big or small will go a long way. I pledge my entire donation towards GRAVIS. Here’s an independent evaluation of the Asha supported work done by GRAVIS since 2008. PBS news hour had a segment on mineworkers in Rajasthan. It shows some of the work done by GRAVIS.
What next when you give?
Besides a tax exemption? A big “Thank You” from me for starters!
Satisfaction that you donated towards a child’s education and women’s welfare in one of the poorest regions of India.
Finally, I’ll match dollar for dollar your kindness up to my fund raising goal. With MSFT matching, your kindness match is multiplied again.
Want to donate?
You can donate using the ‘Donate Now’ button on this webpage to the right.
Microsoft Employees can also have Microsoft match the donation or donate directly on http://give.
- Click on “Give Money”
- Search for organization “Asha for Education, Seattle Chapter“
- Click “Add to Cart” and Continue
- If you have given a check, then select “Gift already made Money/Product/Stock given directly to org)”
- If you want to make the payment now, select “Make a new gift now (Donate online via credit card now)”
- Select “Match with cash” and enter the same amount as above.
- In the purpose you can write “2016 Asha Climbing Program – Jeremy Viegas”.
- Continue and Confirm to complete the transaction
Or donate via check made out to ‘Asha for Education’. Please include ‘Team Asha Climb 2016 – Jeremy Viegas’ behind the check (let me know when you donate via check to help me track the payment).
Asha
Asha for Education is a secular organization dedicated to change in India by focusing on basic education in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change. In keeping with this focus, the volunteers of Asha are involved with and support projects that are secular and have an education-related component to them.
Their objectives include:
- To provide education to underprivileged children in India
- To encourage the formation of various local groups across the world to reach out to larger sections of the population
- To support and cooperate with persons and groups already engaged in similar activities
- To raise the required human and other resources to achieve the group objectives To provide opportunities to individuals living outside India who wish to participate in Asha activities in India
- To address, whenever possible, other issues affecting human life such as health care, environment, socio-economic aspects and women’s issues
The money raised through this climb will specifically go towards the GRAVIS project which works to provide water, health and education for women and children of Thor region in Rajasthan.
Mount Rainer
Mount Rainier is the highest mountain of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, and the highest mountain in the state of Washington. It is a large active stratovolcano located 54 miles (87 km) south-southeast of Seattle. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m). Mount Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world and is also the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states.
Thank you for your support!
Jeremy