It Goes With You.

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Six strangers met in Africa to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro for charity. “it Goes with You” is a collection of our stories, the lessons we learned about the world, life, and ourselves on the way to the summit.

The release date, as well as other details and events, will be announced here first.

The journey to the top is only part of the story.

At 7:35 a.m. local time, on Sunday, October 20, 2024, a group of six Americans led by three Tanzanian expert mountain guides emerged from whiteout conditions to see daylight break through at Uhuru Peak. After nearly nine hours of hiking by headlamp on uneven terrain through sleet, snow, hail, and gale winds, our determined group of ordinary people caught reprieve from the elements on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Earlier in 2024, we had each committed to an ambitious fundraising goal for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and to climb Africa’s highest peak wearing a St. Jude Heroes logo. Each with a different motivation for being there, we found ourselves seated around a poolside table at the Parkview Inn in Moshi the night before our trek with one goal in mind – to unfurl the St. Jude flag at the top of the highest freestanding mountain on Earth.

In the mountains, there’s a principle called Leave No Trace. The idea is simple: whatever you bring into the wilderness, you take out with you. You don’t leave behind your trash, your waste, or your gear.

Everything you carry in comes back out.

That’s life. Everything we experience—the good, the bad, the burdens and joys—it all goes with us. But the weight doesn’t define us. It shapes us. And that’s what makes the journey worth it.

Up the mountain and back down again.

It goes with you.