This is a FUNDRAISING RAFFLE for Nate Chute Foundation, our local Flathead Valley non-profit for Suicide Prevention and Education. This weekend is their biggest fundraiser of the year, The NC Banked Slalom and Boardercross Races sponsored by our local Stumptown Snowboards. I have a dear friend, Anna B, who is putting on her jersey and her bravery (elbows out!) for the cause, and we will donate all of our raffle ticket money to her fundraising efforts, which directly go to NCF. You can check out her link to see her already amazing efforts to fundraise HERE, and if you know other riders in the event, you can donate in their campaigns too!
One ticket purchase for this necklace is $20, and each ticket is one entry to win this piece! Winner will be announced Saturday 3/22! No limit on how many times you enter, but the more the merrier AND the more money we can give to the NCF this year!
I will likely donate our funds to Anna's campaign Friday night at their Pint Night event at Blackstar Brewing, so don't wait! Raffle will close then!
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You Matter.
A slogan and moniker of the Nate Chute Foundation, and a sticker that reads the same on my friend Carlos’s right ski as we ride up the chair on Big Mountain for the four thousandth time as friends and ski buddies. He is 70. I am 40. And in that time, collectively, we have seen over a dozen deaths to suicide over the years. Montana holds the highest per capita rate of suicide in the nation. And in the Flathead Valley, The Nate Chute Foundation is our primary source for suicide prevention and education. And it matters. So SO MUCH.
This necklace is entitled ‘The Color of Everything’, a nod to a recent read of a book by Cory Richards, renowned Nat Geo Photographer, Mountaineer, and mental health advocate in his journey and battle with Bipolar disorder. His story of living life on the teetering edge of escapism and collapse in the biggest mountains on Earth is a gritty and honest look into mental heath. It's a story I see and feel all too accustomed to, and has been one of those reads I just can't stop thinking about.
This piece is also a nod in joyful color to the art of flying through trees on a snowboard, this one specifically I think of a rare sunny powder day recently with my friends in tow. Snowboarding has always been an important vein of my life, a huge part of my own centering during times of deep sadness and struggle. It's also something that taps into a flow-state that I find at the bench and in metal, when the light is just right.
Please grab a ticket and let’s raise some money for suicide prevention, outreach, and education in the valley! It is not lost on me the depth at which we, as creatives and humans on this planet, require connection. It’s our life force, source, and saving grace. Sometimes, it’s our only hope.
If you know anyone dealing with mental health struggles, or need to speak to someone regarding your own struggles, don’t forget you can always dial 988 and talk with someone who will listen.