Jeremy Vallerand and a few friends turned a Mount Rainier climb into a fundraiser: $1 for every vertical foot, $14,410 total. It was supposed to be a one-off. It wasn't.

Today, Atlas Free is a global network of 160+ organizations in 67 countries fighting sex trafficking, still fueled by the community hikes and climbs that started it all. 🩵

In this Possible in Practice episode, you'll hear:

  • How one climb became hundreds of community-led hikes and climbs every year, and the simple idea that made it spread: do what you love to fight what you hate
  • Why Atlas Free stopped sending Americans overseas and started backing the local leaders already doing the work
  • Why donors can tell when you only want their money, and why community has to come before the ask
  • What a $1 million gift and an $18.37 piggy bank taught Jeremy about stewarding every act of generosity

You'll walk away with a blueprint for inviting your community into the mission, not just the fundraising. 🩵

Episode Highlights:

  • (3:09) Refugees in the spare bedroom and the trip to India that changed everything
  • (6:52) Climb for Captives: turning a Mount Rainier climb into a $14,410 fundraiser
  • (9:00) "Do what we love to fight what we hate": how one climb became hundreds
  • (10:48) From one climb to 160+ organizations in 67 countries
  • (14:00) Ethical storytelling: what you choose not to say
  • (17:52) Monthly giving: why community comes before the ask
  • (20:51) A $1 million gift and an $18.37 piggy bank
  • (23:39) The one good thing: who you're with matters more than what you're doing

Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/747

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