More often and not, when you are out and about in the local climbing hotspots, you see one or two (or ten!) people wearing Climb and Conquer T-shirts. I had no idea what was behind these t-shirts until I did a little research of my own. Climb and Conquer Society Canada is a registered charity, run entirely by volunteers located in Vancouver, BC. They support youth (age 4-18) from disadvantaged backgrounds to build healthy self-esteem, relationships and leadership skills through rock climbing and caring mentorships. Currently, they service the Greater Vancouver area. The person behind this great idea is Joseph Wong and I thought it would be a great idea to catch up with him and give you the insight on what is going on.
Hi Joe, how are you doing today?
Absolutely awesome!
I recently became aware of the charity you run. How did Climb and Conquer get started?
Back in 2011, I was volunteering as a 1-1 mentor with Kidstart which services youth with criminal and other at-risk backgrounds. At the same time, I was coordinating the Vancouver Rock Climbing Group, a non-profit that helps climbers find climbing partners.
I love climbing and I believe climbing can empower many youth to top out their current challenges and see new opportunities and not get stuck. I visualized that if I put together all these separate elements in front of me into a youth program, it could potentially benefit many youth plus offering many climbers opportunities to use their climbing skills to create some epic meanings, which will in turn inspire everyone else to care for each other in our community and be awesome. I felt like I just won the lottery and I could not but act immediately on this opportunity to make it happen!
Now CNC is a registered charity and runs 3 programs: monthly group drop-ins in several gyms in Vancouver, long term 1-1 mentorship program and financial subsidy program. I want to say thank you to Cliffhanger, Climb Base 5, Hive and Richmond Oval who generously donate to CNC to make it happen.
What made you want to dedicate your time to such a cause?
I have played many different sports in my life: trail running, mountain biking, skiing, climbing, etc. I’m greatly inspired by many friends in these sports that selflessly and generously mentored me and supported me in the sports and life in general. This is some really wonderful moments. I want to participate in this beautiful act and at the same time create Climb and Conquer as a platform where people can engage in their own beautiful acts in millions different ways.
What are your main fundraising campains throughout the year?
We rely on several indoor climbing competitions throughout the year and one major outdoor one in summer called the Squamish Rampage. (www.vrcg.ca/squamishcomp). We also rely on selling as many T-shirts as possible and a monthly donation plan ($5, $10, etc.) to fund programs.
Whats the deal with these climbing nights?
In our monthly group drop-ins, youth referred from many other youth agencies learn climbing under the supervision of our volunteer climbing mentors. They do some ice breaking games and then venture to test themselves in different boulders and routes. Climbing is obviously fun but the most important change element here is the caring relationships between the youth and the mentors. It means a lot to the youth who don’t get to have many caring relationships in their lives and this really gives them new and fresh perspective of what’s possible for their future.
You giving these shirts out for free or what?
We printed these amazing shirts for $18 and sell them for $20 at the Hive 🙂
How many volunteers do you currently have?
Since 2011, we have had 115 volunteers signed up. But we always need more help since we want to set up new service locations such as SQUAMISH at the Grandwall Coop and the future Ground Up Climbing Centre!
How do people get involved?
Any climbers who are safe and kind can go to www.climbnconquer.ca/volunteer and apply to be a volunteer. We look for both on-call event volunteers and long term 1-1 mentorship volunteers.
Thanks Joe! Please go to Climb and Conquer for information or click on the banner on the left. -Squamish Climbing Magazine
