February 29th, 2024
If you drive by an SLTC campus on any given day, you will see hundreds of students from all across the country climbing wooden poles and learning the basics of linework.
This is the core of their trade.
But on a warm Friday in July, they strapped on their gaffs for another reason: to raise money for neverthirst, a non-profit organization that exists to bring clean and living water to unreached communities worldwide.
More than 40 students volunteered their day off of training to participate in our first ever Woodwalkers for Water event, a climb-a-thon that benefitted neverthirst and their mission.
The wager was simple: for each pole top climb, SLTC would donate money on the student’s behalf to neverthirst.
After almost four hours of climbing, students had come together to climb 1,540 poles totaling nearly $14,000 in donations made on their behalf.
Tyler Mink, a student in Class 65 and a participant in the inaugural Woodwalkers for Water event, climbed exactly 50 poles during the four hour event. He had this to say about his experience, “I knew coming into this school that I would have an impact on other people’s lives and my own [in my career], but while enrolled, I was given the opportunity to make an impact on people I will never see or meet. When I heard of the Woodwalkers for Water event, I was all in to help out people in need and help save lives! I’m very grateful for the opportunity and I’m glad I didn’t waste it!”.
As competition between pole circles is a cherished tradition here at SLTC, the students battled it out to see who could climb the most poles during the event. Logan Martinez from PC 11, the Transformers, climbed 72 poles and helped push his team to a total of 412 poles, the most of any PC.
While friendly competition not only helped spur on excitement and entertainment for the day, it also created an initiative for students to climb more than they thought possible, creating a larger donation for neverthirst.
At the end of the long, exhausting day, SLTC students had raised an average of $9 per climb, totaling to nearly $14,000 in donations to neverthirst and their mission to bring clean and living water to unreached, remote communities across the globe.
Click here to watch the full video recap on our YouTube channel.
