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KCF Presents: Keep Climbing
We partnered with First Descents to bring four of their alumni to Estes Park, Colorado to climb the world-famous Alpine Jewel Via Ferrata. These four women, who have all experienced cancer either as a patient or a caregiver, approached the climb on different journeys with different goals—but ultimately had to rely on one another to add summiting the Via Ferrata to their own stories. An official selection of SAFILM – San Antonio Film Festival.
CLIMB FOR THE KIDS
Over 18,000 children will be diagnosed with cancer next year. 1,700 will die.
Ryan Kelley, President & Founder
Children rely on us to make decisions for them. They’re dependent on others to satisfy even their most basic needs. And in the case of children who are battling serious illnesses, facing poverty, or separated from their parents, this vulnerability is magnified.
Children are America’s future. And Veterans have A wise saying goes tells us it takes a village to raise a child. That’s why children facing hardship need us to step up, offering them advocacy, support, and care.
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How it
all began
Before the Foundation there was Ryan Kelley and a small group of dedicated employees at The Home Loan Expert, who took on a mountain to raise funds and awareness for a boy battling cancer named Alec.
Every year we promote and support organizations focused on childhood cancer and other serious illness.
Our Inspiration Our Inspiration Join CFTK 2023 Join CFTK 2023
2021 CFTK, More Than A Crown
Imagine being told as a child that you have stage 4 cancer. Elizabeth Weidner used her battle and her crown as Jr. Miss Effingham County Fair to inspire action for kids struggling with this terrible disease. Our team heard her cry for help and used it as motivation to summit mountains in Alaska during our Climb for the Kids 2021. We raised over $64,000.
2019 CFTK, Switching the Summit
This short documentary film is about the limitations of childhood cancer research which focuses on the stories of Alec Ingram and Elizabeth Weidner, both of whom experienced pediatric cancer. This film was a part of our 2019 Climb for the Kids event in Ecuador climbing Cotopaxi Volcano. We raised over $50,000.
2022 Keep Climbing Film: Worth It All
Follow the inspirational journey of seven climbers taking on the biggest climb of their lives to raise $55,000 for kids battling cancer at St. Jude. Summiting Chimborazo Peak , a 20,000 foot supervolcano, for our 8th Climb for the Kids event pushed each person to their limits, but it was worth it all!
Every dollar counts!
Our Charitable Partners receive 100% of event donations to support children’s causes.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
St. Jude is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago.
Fisher House Foundation
An organization that has served over 400,000 families since its inception, Fisher House is focused on supporting military and veteran families in a variety of ways, including providing comfort homes where military & veteran families can stay free of charge while a loved one is in the hospital.
Team Alec Forever
Team Alec Forever’s mission is to financially help childhood cancer families with end of life expenses, who are treated in the St. Louis area. No one should ever have to go through this. Our greatest wish is for this to never again be needed. Our prayer will ALWAYS be for a world without childhood cancer. We continue to fight for that to become reality. Until then, we will fund raise to financially support families going through this horrible disease. Surviving the loss of a child is hard enough. Help us, help these families in memory of Alec Ingram.
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) believes when families are together, they cope better, and that no family should have to deal with their child’s medical crisis alone. The mission of RMHC is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children and their families.
First Descents
First Descents provides life-changing outdoor adventures for young adults (ages 18 – 39) impacted by cancer and other serious health conditions.
Children’s Heart Foundation
The Children’s Heart Foundation was founded in 1996 and is the country’s leading organization solely dedicated to funding congenital heart defect (CHD) research. Their mission is to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of congenital heart defects by funding the most promising research. To date, through 2020, The Children’s Heart Foundation has funded $15 million of CHD research and scientific collaborations.
Girls on the Run St. Louis
Inspires girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.
Friends of Kids with Cancer
Friends of Kids with Cancer is devoted to enriching the daily lives of children undergoing treatment for, and survivors of, cancer and blood-related diseases.
Crowns Fight Cancer
The Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation works jointly on the legacy that Elizabeth established with Crowns Fight Cancer. As a childhood cancer warrior, Elizabeth advocated for those that couldn’t by utilizing her crown to change how the world viewed pediatric cancer.
Girls on the Run Rockies
Inspires girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Focused not just on the health of kids today but on the long-term health of the communities it serves.
Fight DMD
Funds research to help find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare genetic disease that weakens the muscles over time.
Isaac Bruce Foundation
Reaches out to youth and teaches them at an early age the importance of a healthy lifestyle with a focus on education.
Children’s Home & Aid
Children’s Home & Aid is a leading child and family service agency in Illinois. They help children recover their health, their hope, and their faith in the people around them. For 138 years, CH&A has shown up for Illinois families. They serve in the places where it’s proven to be the most effective: at home, in the classroom, and in the community. CH&A is an agency that puts families at the center of every decision and believe that communities where we all work, play and live together can be strengthened through data-informed, collaborative and preventative solutions.
Our Mission
Keep Climbing Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves children by hosting fundraising mountain climbs for various charities year-round. Our mission is to help both our climbers and our beneficiaries reach their personal summits by supporting them as they overcome life’s obstacles. And thanks to the generous support of The Home Loan Expert, Hero Loan, and our other corporate sponsors, 100% of our donations go directly to the charities we support.
