HERA Foundation's Climb4Life DC Metro Event

THURSDAY, 26 MARCH 2009
Submitted By: Sherwin Mapanoo

CARBONDALE, COLO. -- The economy may be down, but for the HERA Women's Cancer Foundation's DC Metro Climb4Life event, the numbers are up and rising. The month-long fundraising event kicked off Friday, February 27 at REI in Fairfax, Va. with 430 registered participants. The number of 2009 registrations has already surpasses 2008's final participation numbers and registrations are accepted throughout the month at www.heraclimb4lifedc09.kintera.org.

Held at Sport Rock and Earth Trek climbing gyms and sponsored by REI and Black Diamond Climbing Equipment, participants have already raised $35,661 for ovarian cancer research and awareness and that number continues to increase. (Visit www.herafoundation.org for the most current numbers.) The 2008 DC Metro Climb4Life event brought in over $58,000 by the end of the event with a total of 370 registered participants. The opening event included appearances by professional climbers as well as this year's recipients of the HERA OSB1 Research Grant, which include: Dr. Marie-France Penet, Dr. Dan Lu and Dr. Yuan Tian, all ovarian cancer researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Dr. Richard Roden, also from Johns Hopkins, spoke about the importance of funding ovarian cancer research.

A tribute was held for the late founder of the HERA Foundation, Sean Patrick, who passed away in January due to complications related to ovarian cancer.

"Everyone shined flashlights into the sky and yelled a hello to Sean," says Lisa Carmichael, HERA's interim executive director. "It was beautiful."

The closing event will take place on March 28. For more information please visit ww.herafoundation.org. (See schedule of events below for the upcoming March events.)

"Based on the success of 2008, we anticipated a great turn out, but the results so far have far exceeded our expectations," says Rhonda Krafchin, outreach specialist at REI Fairfax, Va. She adds, "Given the current economic environment, it's fair to say that the climbing community views HERA as an important non-profit and they are committed to helping HERA find a solution to ovarian cancer."

Schedule of Events:

March 28: 2:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Wrap Party & Awards
Earth Treks Climbing Gym
Rockville, Md.
Free clinics will be held throughout the day by pro-climbers! Search for clues hidden throughout the gym in the "Where in the World Is Stanley the Pig?" contest. Prizes will be awarded to top fundraisers and climbers, and Noodles & Co. and Clipper City Brews.

Source: www.herafoundation.org