Hike to Heal: An Outdoor Challenge to Support Compass

Hike to Heal: An Outdoor Challenge to Support Compass supporting Four Seasons Foundation
Four Seasons Foundation

About Hike to Heal: An Outdoor Challenge to Support Compass

Starting October 1, join us as we collectively cover the length of the Appalachian Trail by walking, running, or participating in any other activity you enjoy. You can even support from your couch!

Join as an individual or team and start counting your miles to support Compass! Family and friends can even sponsor participants per each mile walked.

By supporting Compass, you help children and teens receive the grief counseling they need after losing a parent, sibling, grandparent, or other loved one through programs that best fit their needs.

Why Participate?

At Four Seasons, we are working to create exciting and active ways in support of our teen and adolescent program, Compass, during these difficult times. Join us as we virtually hike the Appalachian Trail, embrace nature and set a foot forward to support those who are experiencing grief and loss at this time. Put your hiking, running, or walking shoes on …. And start counting your miles!

Four Seasons is grateful to the presenting sponsor of this event, Blue Ridge Orthodontics

Date

Starts at:  September 30, 2020 11:00 PM
Ends at:  October 30, 2020 11:00 PM

Location

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Contact

Foundation Team
development@fourseasonscfl.org

Community Partners

Ryan P. Ginther Memorial Hike

Four Seasons Foundation is proud to partner with the Ryan P. Ginther Memorial Hike annually in support of the Ginther family and the Four Seasons Compass Program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to host the hike in person this year and are excited to bring you the virtual Hike to Heal in its place!

On December 5, 2015 Ryan Ginther tragically lost his life in a car accident at the young age of 35. His best friend, Andy Miller, remembers him with a "personality that was larger-than-life, a knack for telling stories, and heart belly laugh that made you think you're funnier than you really are." After losing his friend and hiking partner of 25 years, Andy has committed to hiking the full length of the Appalachian Trail one week at a time through the year 2040. Each year, Andy's friends and family gather for a day of food, fellowship, and hiking at the Ryan P. Ginther Memorial Hike.

Ryan's son, Noah, has twice attended Camp Heart Songs- an overnight camp dedicated to helping children and adolescents navigate grief through nature- after the loss of his beloved dad. In honor of the work of Camp Heart Songs and Noah's own journey, the Ginther family and Andy have chosen to partner their hike with Camp Heart songs and its parent program, Compass, to help raise funds for the program.

Pivot Point WNC

Four Seasons Foundation is proud to partner with PIVOTPoint WNC on a dreamy "Lake Escape Weekend" Silent Auction package and several tremendous raffle items to fancy any outdoor enthusiasts' appetite! 

All proceeds from this silent auction and raffle will go directly to benefit PIVOTPoint WNC in honor of Daniel Summerlin, a beloved community member who exemplified emotional strength and resiliency and tirelessly striven to help others succeed in their personal journeys, navigating grief, loss, and recovery. 

 

Click here for the Outdoor Enthusiasts Silent Auction and Raffle! 

"Grief is what remains when our connection is no longer present in the way it once was. It is the echo of the emotional bond between our heart, our safety, our being and our loss. 

PIVOTPoint WNC is proud to partner with Four Seasons Foundation as they support increased access and individualized grief services throughout our communities. We are honored to be recognized by Four Seasons for our healing work: guiding small therapeutic wilderness experiences for young adults and older individuals who are at risk of and recovering from life with substance use disorder. 

As we focus on emotional regulation skills, interpersonal skills and resiliency cultivation, we know that each person's process is deeply personal and unique. The same is true for grief. We are united with Four Seasons Foundation in our mission to ensure that no person needs to go through these difficult and painful processes alone."

-Matthew Nannis, Executive Director of PIVOTPoint WNC​

PIVOTPoint WNC incorporates mindfulness practices as well as therapeutic adventure modalities in a natural environment. Participants explore multiple access points of self-awareness, self-regulation, positive self-esteem development, self- efficacy, and overall pro-social behavior. Through safe, supportive challenging of client-conceived limitations; the processing of expectations; and group dynamic cultivation; our work promotes growth. The mindfulness component strengthens executive functioning, while also promoting neuroregulation – or the calming of nervous systems that have been negatively impacted by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). This enhances self-regulation and stress tolerance capacities, increasing the capacity of participants to engage in healthier relationships, engage in effective conflict resolution and also improved interpersonal decision making.

Hear from World Renowned hiker, Jennifer Pharr Davis

Jennifer Pharr Davis is a lover of long trails and good stories. She is a renowned backpacker and leading voice in the outdoor industry. Jennifer grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but didn't backpack until she walked the entire 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail at age 21. As she crossed a solitary ridge at sunset, she realized for the first time in her life that she was a part of nature, not merely an outside observer of it. She vowed then and there to help others experience "that" feeling. 

At age 24, Jennifer founded Blue Ridge Hiking Company to help everyone- especially women- experience the joy and wonder of spending time in the woods. Twelve years later, Jennifer has been named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, one of Men's Journal's 25 Most Adventurous Women of the Past 25 Years, and the Asheville Area Chamber's 2019 Female Entrepreneur of the Year. She has grown as an author and speaker, and in 2020 she played a key role in the IMAX film Into America's Wild, narrated by Morgan Freeman.

During that time, Blue Ridge Hiking Company has grown from a one woman operation to a small business with a dozen guides, a shop in downtown Asheville, a bunkhouse in the Appalachian Trail hamlet of Hot Springs, and a small fleet of vehicles. It has been recognized coast to coast- from the LA Times, to the Washington Post and New York Times as a key cog in Asheville's burgeoning tourist industry. More importantly, BRHC has helped thousands of people experience the transformative power of walking through and with nature. Today, the company guides in Pisgah National Forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Mount Mitchell State Park, Dupont State Forest, on the Appalachian Trail, and more!

Thanks to our generous sponsors