the cause
We're a 501c(3) nonprofit that raises money for breast cancer and MS research. You can help by donating and by learning to climb mountains around the world.
IT ALL STARTED WHEN…
In 2004 Jodi Buerger was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. Her brother Andy wanted to do something to help and began searching around the world for the most cutting edge breast cancer research he could find. It turns out, he found it in his backyard, at the Johns Hopkins University, where Dr. Alicia Emmens was pioneering research in the still-young field of immunology.
At the time, Dr. Emmens was working to create a breast cancer vaccine, and when Andy asked her what she needed, she said: money to fill in the gaps that government and foundations don’t fund.
Unfortunately, Jodi didn’t survive, but her passing spurred Andy to turn pain into a passion.
On a mountain climbing trip to Pico de Orizaba in Mexico later that year, the idea came to Andy, to raise money by taking people up mountains. The challenge of summiting a big mountain is an apt metaphor for the struggles endured by women affected by breast cancer.
In 2008, tragedy struck again, as Andy’s wife Jen was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Climb for Hope then expanded our efforts and the scope of our funding to include MS research, and we expanded our partnership with the experts at Johns Hopkins University.
Since 2007, Climb For Hope has taken over 250 people safely up summits around the world, raising approximately $750,000 for early stage research. Our trips have grown into transformational experiences for people affected by disease, as well as their friends, and family.
We view our funding as “angel investing” for cancer and MS research, because we support early stage research — something researchers often struggle to find funding for.
In 2018, we began including Grand Canyon crossings, which are now some of our most popular fundraising expeditions. In 2019, we began including Paddle For Hope trips on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Northern Minnesota.
Our expeditions are filled with a wide range of “good people.” Some are recovering from devastating disease, some are outdoor enthusiasts, and some simply want to make a difference. If you want a transformative experience with positive people, a renewal through the power of nature, or help healing from the devastations of disease, join us.
Climb For Hope is an all volunteer organization, and a community of caring, passionate people. A HUGE thank you to our climbers, trip leads, organizers, volunteers, and donors.
You give us hope.
Jodi
Jodi A. Buerger ended her four and one-half year struggle with cancer May 8, 2009.
Our precious and beautiful Jodi died only after exhausting every ounce of energy from her broken body. She never gave up and never wavered, clinging to life with awesome courage and determination. I believe she was driven by a sacred devotion to her children and an abiding promise to protect and nurture them. That’s the spirit we embody on our mountaineering expeditions.
In turn we honor her life and take forward the lessons she taught us about being a good and decent person, always acting with integrity and grace, always with words of support and encouragement. She measured her life by what she could do for others and never by what was taken from her.
Throughout her battle she drew tremendous strength from the overwhelming support and love of her family, friends, and climbers. It helped her more than you might know—through all the harrowing medical procedures and crushing relapses and in those dark moments when unspeakable pain and suffering would momentarily weaken her grip.
She left behind Peter, a loving husband of 14 years, and 3 children Charles, Caroline, and Max.
We were not able to save my sister Jodi’s life. But, as Jodi remarked to me when our expedition returned successfully from Kilimanjaro last year that we may not find something fast enough for her, she believed that her daughter Caroline would grow up in a world without breast cancer because of the hard work of CFH volunteer climbers.
Thank you all for what you’ve done to support and sustain us. Thank you for every hug, every tear, every dollar, and every ounce of support to create a sustainable organization that will keep Jodi’s name alive.
Now, in Jodi’s name we will continue on the many advances we’ve made, giving Johns Hopkins researcher Dr. Leisha Emens $750,000. That money sped up research by six months and lead to the ground-breaking discovery that lower doses of chemotherapy increase immune responses, a last legacy that will be left for future generations.
So many people, including the more than 100 CFH climbers that she inspired to push themselves way beyond their perceived physical limits to summit a mountain they never thought possible, will miss Jodi.
I would have traded anything that Jodi would have never gotten this disease. Since she did, she was able affect real change in this world. Due to Jodi’s humble personality, she never fathomed how many lives she touched – donors, climbers, guides, volunteers, breast cancer survivors, and grieving families – through Climb for Hope.
If furthering cancer research and inspiring scores of people is how’s she’s remembered, than she’ll have lived a fulfilled life.
— Andrew A. Buerger, Climb For Hope Founder.
2023 Research Funding priorities
Become an "angel investor" in cancer and MS research. Help us fund by donating or joining an expedition to raise money. Together, we can climb, hike, and paddle our way to a cure.
There’s a catch-22 when it comes to disease research. Only after showing promise can a study qualify for most funding sources, yet it takes money to start a study. How is a researcher with a promising idea to launch an innovative study, if they don’t have funding?
That’s where Climb For Hope comes in. We like to think of ourselves as Angel Investors for disease research. Through our epic fundraising expeditions, we raise around $100,000 to 150,000 each year and make several seed-fund-style grants of up to $25,000 each. These grants do not have reporting requirements and can be used by the researchers as they see fit, to explore innovative ideas.
Here is the research we plan on funding in 2023.
Understanding Cancer Metastasis
This year, Climb For Hope will again support the work of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, under the direction of Dr. Andrew Ewald, Professor of Cell Biology and Co-Director of the Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Program.
Metastasis is the central problem in cancer, as more than 90% of cancer deaths occur at metastatic stages and few therapies are effective in this setting.
Dr. Ewald explains the cancer research Climb For Hope is funding.
The Kimmel Cancer Center recently discovered that breast cancer cells use a common set of molecular tools to invade out of the tumor (Cell 2013) and that these cancer cells travel in groups as they spread through the body (PNAS 2016).
Breast cancer cells require new lipids, such as cholesterol and fat, to build new cell membranes to allow the cells to multiply and increase the size of the tumor. This project is testing whether reducing the ability of cancer cells to acquire lipids will block breast tumor growth and metastasis.
Myelin Repair in Multiple Sclerosis
This year, Climb For Hope will again support the work of The Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis Center, lead by Dr. Peter Calabresi, Professor of Neurology and Director of Neuroimmunology.
Nearly one million people in the U.S. have Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an incurable neurological condition that affects the myelin coating around nerves in the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. The 20 FDA approved treatments for MS mostly work to slow progression of the disease. There are currently no treatments to repair myelin and help people regain function.
Dr. Calabresi explains the research that Climb For Hope is funding.
The Johns Hopkins MS Center research team is focused on finding a treatment to repair the myelin around damaged nerves and help people with MS regain function. The goal is to utilize recent technological advances to determine if myelin-producing oligodendrocyte precursor cells derived from people with MS can survive under threatening conditions and differentiate into oligodendrocyte cells.
This project uses new technology to generate human stem cells from individual patients’ blood cells. The induced pluripotent stem cells can then be turned into myelin-making cells or the surrounding support cells. In essence, we are working with stem cells to potentially repair brain and spinal cord lesions.
added in 2023
New to Climb For Hope, this year we are funding the work of Dr. Nancy Lin, a medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Dr. Lin’s work is advancing new treatments and prediction strategies for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastasis. Investigations will continue to analyze the genomic sequencing data to identify potential predictors of breast cancer-related development of brain or central nervous system metastases.
Our History
$75O,ooo
has been raised by Climb For Hope since 2007.
33%
of the donations support experiences to heal those affected by cancer and MS.
66%
goes directly to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, for difficult-to-fund, early stage research.
$O
As Climb For Hope is an all volunteer organization, no funds raised are spent on administration.
In 2018, with Dr. Emens’ work well established, Climb For Hope began funding Andrew Ewald’s work at the Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Program in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.
In 2010 Climb For Hope expanded our fundraising to support MS Research, funding Dr. Peter Calabresi’s work at Johns Hopkins University’s Project Restore.
During our early years, funds raised by climbers helped Dr. Leisha Emens conduct clinical research on a vaccine to reprogram immune cells to recognize cancer cells as a foreign enemy and a target them for destruction.
Sponsors
Experienced guides and sponsors are two ingredients to successful climbs.
Become a partner and commit to donating a percentage of your company's sales to our cause, join one of our upcoming climbs or even host your own expedition.
What you'll get:
Align your brand with a strong social mission
Website presence and social media mentions
Pro-deals on Patagonia branded gear
Help take a bite out of disease
Guides
They're the key to our education and safety. Get a bad one and you'll never climb again. Or maybe just lose a digit.
Ours use great euphemisms like "move with purpose now, we're in a high consequence area." Some can even rappel off a Snickers bar buried in the snow so that they don't have to leave an $80 ice screw behind.
So, what can you really expect from a guide? The professionals at Rare Earth Adventures are the people who handle all the nitty-gritty details of an adventure so that you can focus more on the landscapes and experiences (and less on fixing the stove.) They're also highly trained to keep you safe and respond to emergencies.
And… they take you to the best local breweries, get you off the beaten track, and share some hair-raising stories with you when you're windbound in a tent below the summit.
Corporate Sponsors
With over a quarter billion monthly listeners n the U.S., iHeartMedia has the largest reach of any radio or television outlet in America.
iHeartMedia delivers music, news, talk, sports and other content across broadcast stations; digital radio channels; satellite; smartphones; tablets; in-vehicle entertainment and navigation systems; and via live events. Advertise with us.
B'more Organic, makers of organic protein smoothies donates 1% of sales to Jodi's Climb for Hope. The inspiration for the company actually originated after a fundraising expedition climb in Iceland in 2010. Co-Founders Andrew and Jennifer Buerger fell in love with the Icelandic style yogurt called skyr (pronounced skeer) and it's health benefits of high protein and low sugar. They started making smoothies in their kitchen with simple organic ingredients with no added sugar, delivering to Earth Treks climbing gym in Baltimore. It was all downhill from there and now B'more Organic is sold in nearly 3,500 doors across the country. Every bottle makes a difference.
adVenturesAcademy unleashes the growth potential of high-impact enterprises and aligned investors, harnessing the power of adventure to deepen engagement, redefine diligence, and build resilient growth.
With the goal of deepening the engagement of entrepreneurs, investors, and the growth ecosystem surrounding courageous, game-changing enterprises, the adVenturesAcademy provides hands-on adventure training programs to unleash innovation, develop meaningful relationships between stakeholders, and cultivate key skills critical to success in building high growth, resilient enterprises.
Ancient Organics is California's original artisan ghee-maker. Grounded in Ayurveda and committed to supporting independent local organic dairy farms, we use traditional small-scale production to create a product of unparalleled quality, just like the ghee made millennia ago at the foot of the Himalaya. Use Ancient Organics ghee for your high-heat cooking, your body care needs, and your pre-climb bulletproof coffee!
Join the superfat revolution and Eat Good Fat!
AdventurHER Travel is a woman-led company dedicated to getting more women outside, adventuring.
With a focus on introducing more women to outdoor adventure sports and teaching new skills, these vacation-style adventure trips build confidence, capability, and comfort in exciting outdoor pursuits like rock climbing, surfing, dog sledding, mountaineering, and more.