Dear Friends and Family,

As summer begins, I wanted to reach out and let you know that I am planning to hike for Climbing for Kids again this year and I would love to have you to join me - either to hike alongside me as part of my team or as a financial sponsor of my team!  This will be my twelfth 14er and I’m so excited to be hiking to support kids' access to mental health services.

Climbing for Kids benefits Children’s Hospital Colorado’s efforts to support children with mental health challenges. The Pediatric Mental Health Institute (PMHI) at Children's Colorado serves close to 7,000 kids annually.  Unfortunately, suicide is now  the leading cause of death among Colorado youth ages 10-19 and 40% of CO teens struggled with mental health in the last year.  Emergency transport teams are seeing three to four youth suicide attempts per week.  The reality is that health challenges facing kids have gone beyond crisis levels, and the organizations that serve kids are overwhelmed. "There have been many weeks in 2021 that the number one reason for presenting to our emergency department is a suicide attempt. Our kids have run out of resilience – their tanks are empty." said David Brumbaugh, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Children’s Colorado.  Less than half of these kids will receive ANY form of treatment. We know that early access to quality mental health care significantly improves outcomes.

Climbing for Kids aims to drive awareness and financial support for the care of children and families who require early prevention, ongoing therapy, and access to the medical professionals who can make a difference for kids who need it most…for the kids who have a much larger mountain to climb.

I will again captain the Greater Heights for Good team, that will climb Mt. Bierstadt with Climbing for Kids on August 12, 2022.  Last year friends and family donated $4,450  to support  PMHI.  My goal is to continue to raise funds and to have additional climbers join my hiking team to help support mental health awareness. 

I would like to invite you and your family to climb with me and/or to donate directly to Climbing for Kids. Whether you are able to climb a 14'er with me or not, there's a way to help the cause.  

If you would like to climb with me, please email me at davis.bissette@gmail.com and I will provide you additional information.  Even if you can't join us on the mountain, please consider making a donation at  my Climbing for Kids fundraising page by clicking here:

 https://secure.childrenscoloradofoundation.org/site/TR/ClimbingforKids/General?px=1370750&pg=personal&fr_id=1830

to make a safe donation online. Together we can support children with mental health challenges through our support of Children's Colorado’s Pediatric Mental Health Institute.

Thank you for your support!  Your contribution is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Davis Bissette