December 2019
Our first Win-A-Trip Program winner is announced!
Congratulations to Angela AnGie Chang, who will be joining us on our inaugural Patagonia trek in March 2020!
Angie serves as the President of ACE NextGen - SoCal Chapter, and is also on the Board of Directors for the Asian Business Association - LA Chapter, ACE NextGen National Board, East LA College Foundation, and Industry Sheriff's Youth Activities League. In her spare time, you can find her tending to her houseplants & garden, oouhhing & awwwing performances at the Magic Castle, or dancing with LED flow toys at various music festivals. She is also the Chief Strategy Officer at KCAL Insurance Agency, the radio talk show host of "Angie's Chatroom" on URadio AM690, the lead artist for the 2017 Black Rock City Honoraria art installation Daruma at Burning Man, and the co-founder of the dance music community EDM Madness.
Put your hands together for our winner, and keep an eye out for more Win-a-Trip contests from us in the future!
Angie's passionate about giving back to the community, and we are excited to lead her through her first real backpacking experience. We love it when our participants are as passionate about taking initiative and giving back as we are.
November 2019
Langtang Trip #13 trekker Mina Xiong reports:
November 7th, 2019 - “Our hearts had #StartTheSpark in reaching our aspiration here in the langtang valley, giving away the donations given by people who were #InspiredWithPassion for this purpose. Everyday these preschoolers hikes up 40 mins to the top of the mountain just for school due to the 2015 earthquake demolishing their entire school.
Trust me when I say it's a hike. The stairs on the way up felt as if it never ended. The hills were so steeped, the stairs were literally stacking on top of each other. I took a break 4 times just trying to catch my breath, while children are passing me up without breaking a sweat. Every little gift we gave, there, we revived a shy smile. The most humblest of shyness.
Holding their hands up in between their eyes saying, Namaste, with so much shyness given with respect. The support/items we received here from the donors, lead to a mass contributing for the future children of Nepal. #ItStartsWithUs. “
October 2019
Board of Directors Retreat in Ojai, CA
Our 3rd Annual Board Retreat was exciting, rejuvenating, and powerful. We’ve got big plans to take us to greater heights, and have fresh new leadership and roles for the year ahead!
We are excited to introduce our newest member of our Board of Directors Skylar Kerzner as our Marketing Director. Skylar is an expert at business strategy and marketing, owns a tutoring center, and is currently founding software and consulting businesses.
Board Members pictured from left to right: Candice Young, Sarah Nguyen, Rob Williams, Chi Nguyen, Will Weber, and Laura Riege.
We heartedly welcome our newest Board Member Skylar Kerzner!
September 2019
Introducing a meaningful way to PAY IT FORWARD
Want to give an inspiring individual the opportunity to join one of our trips?
Now, you can anonymously provide the gift of #travelwithpurpose to someone making a positive impact in the world! Special tip: Leverage your company’s gift matching program to double your donation!
August 2019
Our newest program is launched in PATAGONIA!
A gleaming sunrise view from the glacial lake base of Cerro Castillo.
The time to #travelwithpurpose in spectacular Patagonia is finally here!
Introducing our newest program through Chile’s newly established Patagonia National Park in the Aysén region, we will take you on one of the world’s ultimate road trips via the Carretera Austral (Route 7) and trek through incredible natural reserves—with some rafting and fiestas included.
Most importantly, we’ll empower communities along the route by implementing infrastructure & educational programs to manage recycled waste and transform villages into sustainable towns, with your contribution.
July 2019
Langtang Valley school build update: walls are complete under School Management Committee’s watch
We are overjoyed with how beautifully our school is turning out! This is a heart-fueled labor of love and sweat, and each of these stone bricks are carefully hand chiseled by the local workers that we hire. The next step is to wait for the summer monsoon season to pass before we can continue construction again, and the trekkers of our upcoming November Trip #13 to Langtang Valley will be helping with the roofing and final touches of the rebuild. We are on track to completing the school by our School Handover Ceremony next April, all thanks to the continued support of our beloved donors, fundraisers, and volunteers!
June 2019
In year 2, the Mongolia Nature Conservancy program is taken to greater and greener heights
6 cherished volunteers attended our 2nd annual Mongolia trip and provided an environmental grant to promote eco-conscious projects. Check out what Mongolia Program Manager/Board Member Sarah Nguyen has to say about what we were able to accomplish in partnership with the Mongolian Rotary Club:
Beyond the precious memories created out on the vast Mongolian steppe, our volunteers made this measurable impact the country:
50 large bags (70 L each) of trash collected in Terelj National Park
15 trash claws & pairs of work gloves used and donated to Terelj National Park staff
50 elm trees planted in Erdene Sum Nalaikha
$2,250 paid to Rotary Club of Khangarid to fund environmental projects:
“Green Way” project: recycling education in schools, cleanup events, trash cans
“Magic Bricks” project: milk & flour donated to Khugjliin Khelkhee NGO for their onsite daycare
$108 in carbon offsets paid to My Club NGO to cover touring emissions
Our beloved Trek Relief 3x returnee Chuck Chan wards off desertification on the Mongolian steppe by sponsoring and planting trees.
All smiles with this wonderful group of volunteers, which includes 4 returning alum who have participated in previous trips with Trek Relief.
April 2019
2nd annual Party with Purpose fundraiser is a great success!
Because of our supportive attendees and the collective work of our dynamic volunteers, we brought in over $16.5K from our event on April 20th! That's absolutely incredible - HUGE thanks and amazing job to everyone involved in creating the event! If you missed it, check out this video of the entertainment-filled night created by our wonderful 2x trip alum Belinda Man.
March 2019
Langtang Valley school rebuild update
It's not always butterflies and rainbows working in a developing country, where corruption and distrust is a norm.
I had been getting a one-sided story about local tensions surrounding our school build from our Nepali architect Buddha, which put a speed bump in our school build progress. Our volunteer work was threatened to a stop, and it took a face-to-face meeting with Buddha, the school principal, the Village Ward and School Chairmen, our guide Mukund as our translator, myself and all of our trekkers (and a little Nepali thrown in for charm) to clear up the misunderstandings.
We learned that the villagers were distrustful of how the school funds had been privately managed by Buddha and the former School Chairman. The solution was to have a multi-person school committee take over the funds and labor contracting for public transparency. In the meeting, we resolved tensions by clarifying the total amount that Trek Relief has sent to date for construction ($29,549), how much was still available in Nepal, and every clause of the US-drafted contract that we prepared for this transition of control. Fortunately, the meeting ended with all parties coming to a common understanding and signing with smiles.
Misunderstandings are resolved, and the village leaders and our local architect happily sign the contract we drafted in preparation for this transition of control.
It’s all smooth sailing and smiles from here on out with Ward Chairman Singi Tamang, Trek Relief Executive Director Candice Young, and School Chairman Norbu Tamang.
Both the Ward and School Chairmen showed their freshly turned support by joining us and Buddha for our volunteer work the next day. Now with the helpful cooperation of the village leaders, we will complete the school by the end of 2019 and we’ve got wonderful plans for our BIG school handover ceremony trek next year! Check out the latest progress photos of our school, now that all road blocks have been cleared. This enormous feat has only been possible because of our wonderful donors like you!
Our school build continues to provide much needed jobs to women and men alike.
The walls are looking good and complete up to the window level! Each brick is chiseled out of stone.
Trek Relief alum podcasts about his experience
Check out what our top fundraiser David Doucette has to say about his March trip to Nepal with Trek Relief!
February 2019
Board Members tell the Trek Relief story via Facebook Live
Board directors Sarah Nguyen (chief information officer, left) and Chi Nguyen (president, right) interview via Facebook Live with life coach Quinton Carlin on his Self Developed Life podcast series about the Trek Relief startup story.