Connections

Most of you that I talk with on the phone, send race information to, or meet at the race will know me as the Race Coordinator for the Glacier Challenge. On July 12th and many weeks before, that is the hat I wear. But throughout most ofthe year, I do something that doesn’t look related to canoes or bicycles or finish lines. The other months of the year, my job is a bit messier than that. It involves kids without dads, moms in jail for selling meth, and mental illness. It involves a language that I have had to learn as I meet the kids who come to us. Tems like post-traumantic distress disorder and reaction attachment disorder ; all big words to say that these kids have arrived with losses and damages like I will never know. Really, it is amazing to meet these 12 and 13 year olds and image how so many hard things have fit into their lives already.

But for all the brokenness we encounter, we also glimpse some healing. When a child comes to us, a whole network of care and services open to both the child and the family. Families that had been existing on the fringes of our community are connected with resources to help them work through the crises that brought them to us. Counseling sessions open communication, mental health evaluations lead to therapeutic care, and addiction support begins the healing process. Suddenly there are resources and support and care in the broken places.

Most days are about the kids. The kayaks and transition areas and single track are in the background. But there are connections. The easy connection is the fact that this race, The Glacier Challenge, started and continues today to be a major fund-raiser for our work with kids. Your participation helps to grow and strengthen that work. There is another connetion, though. When I watch you, the racers of the Glacier Challenge, I am amazed at the strength, the tenacity, the sheer determination it takes to cross over that finish line. I am in awe of not just the capacity of the physical body but also the human spirit. Because I think this race requires a strength of both. I see it in our kids, too. That same combination of human resilliance whether it is in the form of a gruelling single track or overcoming an addiction. Rising above these hard challenges is an extraordinary tribute to what the human spirit can do.

This year, we have added a new box to the entry form. This is an opportunity for you to add a little more to your entry fee to help us care for kids. It’s pretty simple and it’s pretty profound. You check the box and tell us you want to add $10 or $50 or $100 to your entry fee. You can include it all on one check if that is easiest. Also, please let us know if you would like a receipt for your taxes. It’s one more way our human spirits connect.