FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Diane Farr
Broker/Owner
EXIT Realty of the Smokies
865-567-2003
exitdiane@hotmail.com
Appalachian Trail Climb Supports St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
EXIT Southeast Weekend Climb for the Kids Hits 50K Goal
Kodak , TN (Grassroots Newswire) 10/11/2022 -- Climb for Kids on the Appalachian Trail was recently completed by EXIT Southeast volunteers from five states in conjunction with The Home Loan Expert Ryan Kelley and the nonprofit, Keep Climbing Foundation, with 100% of the donations benefitting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the fight against childhood cancers.
Kelley has been climbing mountains all over the world with the Keep Climbing Foundation fulfilling its mission to serve others. Beginning the climb in Cosby, Tennessee, EXIT Southeast volunteers from Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas, as well as volunteers from Wisconsin and Canada with EXIT Realty Corp. International, summitted multiple peaks including Tennessee’s highest, Clingman’s Dome, said EXIT Southeast Regional Owner Kenny Lynn.
"We have great respect for the work of St. Jude and the impressive volunteers of Keep Climbing Foundation. With Ryan Kelley marshalling our real estate brokers, owners, agents and staff, it was a great weekend for a very worthy cause,” Lynn said.
Keep Climbing Foundation partners with companies conducting climbs all over the world said Kelley. “As a foundation, we look to partner with companies that meet our high standards. EXIT Southeast went beyond those expectations. They were engaged from the start, exceeded their $50,000 fundraising goal and showed up to the Smoky Mountains ready to put in the work. We couldn't be happier. This will go down as one of our best fundraising campaigns of the year,” Kelley said.
EXIT Southeast Regional Owner Stacy Strobl said the fundraising effort was especially important to her after a recent cancer challenge. “After living in Memphis and volunteering at St. Jude, I saw first-hand the great work they do. Located in our EXIT Southeast region, this was a great way to support children in need from across the United States. After I recently faced a cancer challenge, supporting kids going through this difficult time hit home for me and I’m so proud of our EXIT Southeast volunteers,” said Strobl.
The EXIT Southeast climbers faced residual weather from Hurricane Ian making the hike more challenging in the wind and rain. Strobl said the team began the three-day hike, finished safely, and raised over $50,000 for a worthy cause.
EXIT Realty of the Smokies Broker/Owner Diane Farr said participating in the Climb for the Kids was in honor of her Daughter Sierra Luise. "We never had to utilize St Jude Childrens Hospital for Sierra, because Vanderbilt was able to assist with all her needs 24 years ago, but I know first hand how important it is to have a facility to care for chilren and their families, in a time of need."
A Great Smoky Mountains National Park guide company, A Walk in the Woods, (The Matzkos) provided a full-service guided trip through the Appalachian Mountains. All the participants leaned on the guide team’s expertise as they hiked in the rainy and cold conditions. A physically demanding hike, Erika Gileo, chief operating officer of EXIT Realty Corp. International, said the ultimate goal was most important.
“I made it up to the top and it was a little harder than I expected,” Gileo said. “I love being in nature. But, more than anything, it’s for the kids to help those struggling and sick and to support St. Jude.”
Climb for the Kids was started in 2015 by Kelley to bring attention to the lack of adequate federal funding for childhood cancer research.
St. Jude will receive 100% of donations from this event to continue their world-class pediatric cancer research. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened in 1962. Climbers were proud to face the long uphill trails, the rain, the wind, and the cold for kids battling cancer at St Jude.
For more information on volunteering or donating for the Keep Climbing Foundation’s Climb for Kids, visit keepclimbingfoundation.org, or text “SUMMIT” to 53-555.
EXIT Realty Southeast is the regional entity for Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida and Texas. Founded by Regional Owners Strobl and Lynn, EXIT Southeast consistently earns top region for EXIT Realty Corp. International as well as top franchise sales and offers cutting-edge EXIT opportunities for agents, brokers and franchise owners through technology, training, branding, culture and a unique residual system. For more information, visit EXITSoutheast.com.
About Keep Climbing Foundation: Keep Climbing Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to helping others overcome obstacles and reach their personal summits by raising financial support and awareness for our causes. These causes include empowering children, supporting Veterans, assisting first responders, and meeting urgent community needs. We take our name, Keep Climbing, as both a call to action and a guiding principle. We want to help others reach their goals and overcome adversity, because we hold on to the hope that every mountain is scalable.
About Climb for the Kids: Since 2015, Climb for the Kids has raised more than $350,000 for charities, hospitals, and families of children battling serious illness. Past climbs include Mt. Massive, Mt. Elbert, Cotopaxi, Mt. Rainier, and Grand Teton. This year’s climb in Alaska aims to bring awareness and raise funds for organizations that serve children in need. Our chosen charities all help children fighting serious illness or strive to empower children to live their best lives.
For more information about EXIT Realty of the Smokies, please call 865-567-2003. EXIT Realty of the Smokies is located at 3662 Douglas Dam Rd Kodak TN 37764.
About EXIT Realty:
EXIT Realty is a company founded and built on human potential. A full service, forward-thinking, real estate franchisor with offices across North America, EXIT has to-date paid out more than a half a billion dollars in single-level residual income to its associates. A portion of every transaction fee received by EXIT Realty Corp. International is applied to its charitable fund, and to-date, $7 million has been allocated to charity. For more information, please visit www.exitrealty.com and www.joinexitrealty.com.
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Documents and/or Photos available for this release:
Climb for the Kids EXIT Southeast Volunteers and Guides
Climb for the Kids A Walk in the Woods Guides
Keep Climbing Flag
Keep Climbing Clingmans Dome
To view supporting documents and/or photos, go to www.enr-corp.com/pressroom and enter Release ID: 440052
