WHO IS KIRSTIE ENNIS?
The Backstory
After being injured in Afghanistan and forced into a medical retirement, Kirstie Ennis needed to figure how she was going to continue serving people. After recognizing non-profits who needed support raising awareness and fundraising, Kirstie decided to take action. The non-profits are ones that Kirstie proudly stands behind. In order to legitimize her efforts in fundraising and to fairly distribute the funds behind climbing, The Kirstie Ennis Foundation was incorporated.
In the early stages of her recovery, Kirstie relied heavily to get back to being who she really was. Thanks to the outdoors Kirstie does more now on one leg than she ever even dreamed of doing on two. Kirstie wants to provide opportunity in the outdoors, and ultimately opportunity for the rest of peoples lives. The possibilities in the outdoors are endless.
The Mantras
- Reflect on who you are and what you have to offer. Give more than you get.
- There are no boundaries – we want to help all people, not just one category (i.e. veterans, disabled, kids, women).
- Show the world that we control our circumstances, they do not control us.
- The intention to go further than just the Seven Summits/Grand Slam, for example to swim the English Channel or do the Seven Volcanoes.
- The reason for the non-profit is to distribute funds evenly – for example Everest being a big, sexy mountain will raise the most funds, isn’t fair to other non-profits to be dedicated to smaller mountains.
