Pete Takeda Fundraiser raises $400 for Liberia scholarship program

Pete Takeda shows off a SkirtSport dress that was raffled off.
We made just about $400 at the fundraiser last night, which included about 25 or so people. Though it was less than we hoped because there was a breast cancer fundraiser that same night, the intimate setting provided our presenter, alpinist and author Pete Takeda, with the opportunity to really interact with the audience. He was engaging and funny, and people laughed for the duration of his one-hour show. It was interesting to both hear about the spy satellites the U.S. and Indian governments placed on Nanda Kot and Nanda Devi, and also the stories he recalled about his own journey up Nanda Kot. Also, all participants ended up with raffle prizes, which was pretty exciting. I wouldn't say this was my most successful fundraiser, but it was probably one of the more enjoyable ones (after I quit moping after finding out about the other fundraiser).
Lizzy raffles off items donated by generous local and outdoor industry businesses (see list below)

I'd like to thank the following folks for making this happen:
Lorraine and Buff at the Hangar Restaurant kindly hosted the event, donating their time and energy as well as beer and their very nice space. Pete Takeda for doing the show, Justin Faye for providing the wonderful music, and Dick Orleans for proving the sound system, the wonderful GEI board members Elizabeth O'Neill and Justin Voorhees, and volunteers Audra Ord and Douglas Snively.
I'd also like to thank: Redwood Creek Winery, Oskar Blues Brewery, SkirtSports, Glassworks of Estes Park, Marmot, the Stanley Hotel, the Meadow Mountain Cafe, Evolv Shoes, Clif Bar, Jet Boil, Black Diamond, Climbing Magazine, Wigwam Socks, Majka Burhardt, Keith the massage therapist in Boulder, artist Renan Ozturk, artist Emilie Lee, Kate Rutherford, and the Estes Park News and the Lyons Recorder for publicizing the event.

GEI to feature Pete Takeda at June 26th Estes Park fundraiser

Photo by Jonny Copp. Nanda Devi

On Thursday, June 26, from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the Hangar Restaurant in Estes Park is hosting a benefit for Girls Education International, a nonprofit organization founded by North Face athlete Heidi Wirtz and Rock & Ice Senior Contributing Editor Lizzy Scully. The fundraiser will feature tunes by local musician Justin Faye and a slide show by author and mountaineer Pete Takeda. The $35 ticket includes a BBQ, unlimited New Belgium Brewery beer, and raffle tickets for dozens of items. There will also be a silent auction.

Takeda recently published a book entitled, “An Eye at the Top of the World: The Terrifying Legacy of the Cold War’s Most Daring CIA Operation.” In the early 1980s, the CIA decided to put a nuclear-powered spy device on the top of Nanda Devi—one of the Himalayas’ most remote and forbidding peaks. The goal was to gather information on Chinese troop movements. Some time later, the apparatus stopped sending signals; it was as though it had completely disappeared. The device was never recovered, and now, nearly four pounds of plutonium, locked in the glacier beneath the mountain are moving ever closer to the source of the Ganges River.

“That’s enough manmade poison to kill every human on earth, or to produce a bomb capable of flattening a city,” explained Takeda.

For this book, Takeda not only interviewed surviving members of the original expedition—during which the climbers huddled around the spy device for warmth given off by the decay of radioactive elements—he retraced their steps to the peak itself. While en route, Takeda has his own harrowing experience with the violent forces of the mountain, and was almost swept away in an avalanche. To learn more, come to the Hangar Restaurant and check out Takeda’s exciting show. (For more information, please visit www.petetakeda.com).

Girls Education International (GEI) is a 501(c)3 operating under the umbrella of The Mountain Fund. GEI currently has two operational programs and two additional programs that they hope to launch by 2009. The profits from this fundraiser will go toward their Liberia Scholarship program, which provides scholarships to 42 girls in the mountainous regions of Liberia, and also to one of their Nepal scholarship programs, which provides scholarships to two girls in Kathmandu. For more information, please visit: www.girlsed.org, or call Lizzy Scully at 303-903-2768.

All donations, including the $35 dinner ticket, are tax deductible. Raffle and silent auction items provided by: Redwood Winery, Glassworks of Estes, The Meadow Mountain Café, Evolv shoes, The North Face, SkirtSports, La Sportiva shoes, jewelry by Suspended Stone Design, photography by Topher Donahue, Majka Burhardt’s book, “Vertical Ethiopia,” signed copies of Takeda’s book, and many other items.

Girls Ed to Host Fundraiser June 26 featuring author/alpinist Pete Takeda

Press Release
Contact:
Lizzy Scully
303-903-2768

On Thursday, June 26, from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the Hangar Restaurant in Estes Park is hosting a benefit for Girls Education International, a nonprofit organization founded by North Face athlete Heidi Wirtz and Rock & Ice Senior Contributing Editor Lizzy Scully. The fundraiser will feature tunes by local musician Justin Faye and a slide show by author and mountaineer Pete Takeda. The $35 ticket includes a BBQ, unlimited New Belgium Brewery beer, and raffle tickets for dozens of items. There will also be a silent auction.

Takeda recently published a book entitled, “An Eye at the Top of the World: The Terrifying Legacy of the Cold War’s Most Daring CIA Operation.” In the early 1980s, the CIA decided to put a nuclear-powered spy device on the top of Nanda Devi—one of the Himalayas’ most remote and forbidding peaks. The goal was to gather information on Chinese troop movements. Some time later, the apparatus stopped sending signals; it was as though it had completely disappeared. The device was never recovered, and now, nearly four pounds of plutonium, locked in the glacier beneath the mountain are moving ever closer to the source of the Ganges River.

“That’s enough manmade poison to kill every human on earth, or to produce a bomb capable of flattening a city,” explained Takeda.

For this book, Takeda not only interviewed surviving members of the original expedition—during which the climbers huddled around the spy device for warmth given off by the decay of radioactive elements—he retraced their steps to the peak itself. While en route, Takeda has his own harrowing experience with the violent forces of the mountain, and was almost swept away in an avalanche. To learn more, come to the Hangar Restaurant and check out Takeda’s exciting show.

Girls Education International (GEI) is a 501(c)3 operating under the umbrella of The Mountain Fund. GEI currently has two operational programs and two additional programs that they hope to launch by 2009. The profits from this fundraiser will go toward their Liberia Scholarship program, which provides scholarships to 42 girls in the mountainous regions of Liberia, and also to one of their Nepal scholarship programs, which provides scholarships to two girls in Kathmandu. For more information, please visit: www.girlsed.org, or call 303-903-2768.

All donations, including the $35 dinner ticket, are tax deductible. Raffle and silent auction items provided by: Glassworks of Estes, The Meadow Mountain Café, Evolv shoes, The North Face, SkirtSports, La Sportiva shoes, jewelry by Suspended Stone Design, photography by Topher Donahue, Majka Burhardt’s book, “Vertical Ethiopia,” signed copies of Takeda’s book, and many other items.

Fundraiser with Pete Takeda June 26

I'm currently working on nailing down the details for the big fundraiser that we are doing in Estes Park on June 26th. Pete Takeda, author and mountaineer, will be doing a slide show, we will have music and a BBQ. It will be held at the Hangar Restaurant in Estes. I'll have more details and a flyer in a few days.
We are trying to raise $3,000. We will use this money to fund our project in Liberia. Any additional funds that we raise will be put toward getting our other projects going in Pakistan and Nepal.