All Dressed Up, Nowhere to Go

Last week, you hopefully received an email update from Tom Vogl that shared our exciting news about The Mountaineers Virtual Gala Campaign. In light of the annual gala being rescheduled to July 23, we are launching a special giving campaign between March 30-April 4, which will include our first-ever online auction! 

As a fun way for our community to stay in touch during a time of social distancing, we look forward to sharing a (thoroughly-washed) handful of short, homemade videos from gala leaders (self-produced in their respective social isolation chambers). Videos will provide insight into our incredible auction packages (a week stay in a beautiful Whistler townhome, post-coronavirus, anyone?) and special giving opportunities. Check out the first video in our All Dressed Up, Nowhere to Go series now! 

There’s no sugarcoating it - times will be tough for many of us financially. Community celebrations like the gala bring in over $400,000 of funding (25% of The Mountaineers annual fundraising revenue) to directly support mission-critical operations like volunteer development, conservation, scholarships, publishing, and more. Even with our gala rescheduled for July, we are concerned that summer schedules will make it challenging for many people to participate. Additionally, dozens of courses across our organization have been cancelled, and lodges were forced to close early this season.

Though The Mountaineers is not in danger of closing our doors permanently, diminished revenue from course fees, lodge stays, and the gala’s charitable gifts critically impairs our ability to adequately meet the needs of our volunteers and members once our doors re-open. Our need-based scholarships, youth outreach, and conservation programming are at risk of being critically under-resourced without the support of our community.

In short, we need your support now so that we’re able to provide our highest quality programming, as soon as it’s safe to do so.

Over the next three weeks, The Mountaineers Virtual Gala Campaign will present you with opportunities to help. You’ll be able to connect with our Mountaineers community and give back to the people, places, and books that have helped shape your story. I hope our video series and online auction give you something to smile about. We all could use a little positivity and lightheartedness right now!

Thank you for your commitment and generosity. We are honored to stand with you and our community throughout this strange and scary time.