Help Lauren raise money

Hello friends & fellow adventure lovers, 

You're seeing this page because I have decided to run the TC 10 mile marathon after being inspired by my friends. Four women in my life are running the full marathon for the first time. Shout out to Sierra, Saba, Margot, and Meagan. Every time they mentioned it, I felt so inspired and beyond stoked for their journey. Eventually, I thought to myself - why not me? It hadn't even occurred to me to consider myself an endurance runner and I was a bit shocked by the bit of fear the struck through me while imagining myself making this commitment. With a healthy dose of nerves and adrenaline, I signed up for the 10 mile race in order to move beyond my own limiting beliefs. It's been a pretty good journey thus far, and physical therapy has saved me from what I thought was race ending knee pain! Honestly, just to have a goal to focus my energy towards is a blessing in and of itself. 

I'm running with the YMCA's Adventure Team, a cohort of 17+ camps and adventure programs that offer outdoor experiences for all ages. Y Adventure is fundraising specifically to increase equity, inclusion and belonging efforts in their programs through scholarships, continued learning experiences for their staff, and more. 

In a place filled with systemic injustices, let's not let finances be a barrier for anyone wanting to connect with community and enjoy the outdoors. I'm inspired by the possibility of any kid, anywhere being able to join a YMCA adventure program if they want to. 

Of course advancing equity, inclusion, and belonging in the outdoors is about a lot more than money and I feel the YMCA is an org that walks the walk. If you have extra resource and all of this resonates with you, please join me in sharing the surplus by donating to my YMCA fundraiser. Every bit counts. 

Little by little, we can create systems of ACCESS for everybody to thrive and experience a sense of belonging.