A message from Postpartum Progress board member Deborah Rimmler on turning from shame to pride.

Hold onto your hats, ladies, we are shifting this spectacular Climb Out of the Darkness into high gear.  I am back from my trip and my focus is on fundraising!  We are onto something here—and that thing is our pride.  Pride in how we overcame postpartum depression, anxiety, psychosis or other related mood disorders.  Pride in the mothers we have worked so damn hard to become.  Pride in who we are as a community.  Let’s turn our pride into power.  Let’s raise as much money possible so we can help even more women like us.

I’ve drafted my fundraising email and made a version you can cut and paste.  Just make sure to fill in the blanks with your details.  And remember, you are going to hit the jackpot if like 15% of the people you send this to actually donate.  Don’t take it personally if people don’t.  People are busy or tired or broke, but that doesn’t mean they don’t love you.  And that also doesn’t mean we won’t remind everyone we’ve reached out to again nicely in a week that we would still love their support!

We need all of you Warrior Moms to set a fund raising goal of at least $200 for your Climb.  That could be just 10 people donating $10 and four people donating $25.  Fourteen small donations later and you’ll be surpassing your goal before you know it.

Next up—how to hit the streets and sweet talk donations from your hairdresser and grocer.

Draft email:

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you know, the arrival of my [insert name of child or children] was anything but a joyous experience for me.  I was one of the 15% of new or pregnant moms who have postpartum depression, anxiety, psychosis or other related mood disorders.  One day in despair, looking for answers and support, I stumbled upon a blog.  Finding Postpartum Progress (www.postpartumprogress.com) and its amazing community of Warrior Moms really helped me heal.

Postpartum Progress was there for me when I needed it, and I want to help them reach even more pregnant and new moms. I am proud to be participating in the first worldwide event to raise awareness of postpartum depression and all other mental illnesses related to childbirth, called Climb out of the Darkness.  On June 21st, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, PPD survivors all over the world are organizing to climb or hike a local mountain or park to symbolize our collective rise out of the darkness and stigma of these diseases as well as to raise funds to help support Postpartum Progress, Inc., a non-profit organization in the U.S. founded to help sustain the blog and create new programs that support moms around the world.

As of today, there are more than 70 different Climbs that will take place in the US, Mexico, Canada, Europe and New Zealand, including mine at [                                    ].  The funds raised from this event will be specifically used for two purposes: Postpartum Progress, Inc. (a 501(c)3 public charity, federal tax ID 27-3100405) is creating new PPD educational materials to be used by obstetricians, pediatricians and others, as well as new materials to help educate the media on the public health impact of postpartum depression and related illnesses on mothers and children.

Supporting my Climb is quick and easy.  You can donate online at my Crowdrise fundraising site at [www.crowdrise.com/postpartumprogress/fundraiser/YOUR NAME].  Or, you can give me a check made out to Postpartum Progress Inc. and I’ll be sure they get it.

Please help me to help new mothers all over the world heal quickly from what is actually the most common complication of childbirth.

~ Deborah Rimmler

P.S. From Katherine:

If you’d like a Climb Out of the Darkness t-shirt, please fill out this inquiry form so we can get an idea of sizes and quantities: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17SFor_Na5gfqhWcm-IrVvyCb2Y7dHKxR5kufGRYM-mk/viewform

Here is the latest list of Climbs so that if you’d like to join one (or if you see a place where on needs to be started you can do that):

UNITED STATES

1. Alabama

River Walk Park (Tuscaloosa) – Brooke Middleton (mm3053@yahoo.com)

2. Alaska

Dolly Varden Lake (Kenai National Wildlife Refuge) – January Yeager

3. Arizona

Fatmans Loop Trail (Flagstaff) – Hannah Kay Stearley (hstearley@hotmail.com)

4. California

• Mission Peak (Fremont) – Shanna Ochoa
• Runyon Canyon (Los Angeles) – Morgan Shanahan (morgan@the818.com)
• Cowles Mountain (San Diego) – Allyn Olsen  (allynjo@gmail.com)
• Tunnel Trail/Inspiration Point (Santa Barbara) – Sierra Rose
• Three Sisters Reserve (Palos Verdes) – Kristi Templeton Clark (Kristidotclark@gmail.com)

5. Colorado

Mt. Sanitas (Bouler) – Kate Kripke (katekripke@gmail.com), Brittany Leigh Baker (brittany.leigh29@gmail.com), Carissa Gilmore (proudmommy.cg@gmail.com)

6. Connecticut

East Rock Park (New Haven) – AM Tonyan Lindsay (amtonyan@gmail.com), Kate Sullivan

7. Delaware

Levels Road Park (Middletown) – Catherine Hall (cjb1281@gmail.com), Jennifer Hall Sparks (sparkjm@aol.com), Julie O’Neill (julieoneill6802@hotmail.com)

8. Florida

• Pelican Beach Park (Satellite Beach) –  Suna Clinchard (June 23) (suna@ascendcounselingandwellness.com)
• The Hill at Tropical Park (Miami) – Dana Quick (dana.quick@yahoo.com)
• Rainbow Springs State Park (Dunnelon) – Emma Sphon

9. Georgia

• Sawnee Mountain Preserve (Cumming) – Katherine Stone
• Stone Mountain (Stone Mountain) – Amber Koter-Puline
• Lake Peachtree (Peachtree City) – Reanna Crumley Rodgers (reannac76@gmail.com)

10. Illinois

• I&M Canal Trail (Ottawa) – Starr Goldsberry (starr.goldsberry@gmail.com)
• Location TBD (Glenview) – Ana Tarkov

11. Indiana

• Pokagon State Park (Angola) – Tara Stiver (tarastiver@gmail.com)
• Perrin Park (Jeffersonville) – Lara Schillizzi

12. Kansas

Governor’s Mansion (Topeka) – Kendra Slater (kendra0024@hotmail.com)

13. Kentucky

• Freeman Lake Park (Elizabethtown) – Lauren Riggs (lauren.bell826@topper.wku.edu)
• Location TBD (Louisville) – Nicole Grodan (snipcrank1@gmail.com)
• Anchorage Trail (Louisville) – Jessica Strickland (jstrickland1032@gmail.com)

14. Maine

Belfast Bay (Belfast) – Peggy Shae Andrews (peggyand@gmail.com)

15. Maryland

• Gunpowder Falls State Park (Baltimore) – Laurie Bardon Syphard (lbsyphard@gmail.com)
• Kilgore Falls (Pylesville) – Kristyn Dawson (kristyndawson@gmail.com)

16. Massachusetts

• Mt. Greylock (Adams) – Deborah Rimmler, Melissa Davis (drimmler@nexant.com)
• Mt. Wachusett (Princeton) – Bethany Boyle (bethanyboyle@gmail.com)
• Great Brook Farm State Park (Carlisle) – Susan Petcher (sopetcher@gmail.com)

17. Michigan

• Kensington Metropark (Milford) – Stephanie Roseman (steph7206@gmail.com)
• Roethke Park (Saginaw) – Jennifer Salowitz (jldowell2@yahoo.com)

18. Minnesota

Hyland Lake Park Reserve (Bloomington) – Hayley Hopperstad (hdhopper87@gmail.com)

19. Mississippi

Davis Bayou Trail (Ocean Springs) – Lindsay Maloan (lilloveandluck@gmail.com)

20. Missouri

Creve Coeur Park (St. Louis) – Erin Shetler (erin.m.shetler@gmail.com)

21. Montana

Mt. Sentinel – Samantha Hines (samhines@gmail.com)

22. Nevada

• Mt. Charleston – Molly Tribe Schmutz
• Tahoe Rim Lake Trail – Justina Friedlander (legalbasquegirl@gmail.com)

23. New Jersey

• Jenny Jump State Park – Jen Kowal (supereaude@yahoo.com)
• West Deptford Park – Jaime Harker (jamesandjax@gmail.com), Valerie Noble Cruz (valley519@gmail.com)
• Thompson Park (Lincroft) – Lisa Becknell Madden (June 22) (lmadden64@yahoo.com)
• Maxwell Park (Hoboken) – Lesley Neadel (lesley.neadel@gmail.com)

24. New York

• Letchworth State Park (Rochester) – Abby Cantwell, Kate Johnson Andrukat, Julie Clapp Horne, Rebecca Snyder (June 22)  (abster.mae@gmail.com)
• Battery Park to Riverside Park (NYC) – Lauren Wichterman (wichter@hotmail.com)

25. North Carolina

• Grandfather Mountain (Linville) – Theresa Mitchell
• Pilot Mountain (Surry County) – Meghan Putzel (meghanputzel@gmail.com)

26. North Dakota

Tom O’Leary Golf Course (Bismarck) – Raychel Chumley (raychelchumley@gmail.com)

27. Ohio

Batelle Darby Creek Park (Columbus) – Libby Bruce (libby.bruce@gmail.com)

28. Oregon

Mt. Tabor (Portland) – Ashley Lindberg Lawrence’s Climb (Ashley@211imfo.org)

29. Pennsylvania

• Gifford Pinchot State Park (Lewisberry) – Candis Bradshaw (candisbradshaw@gmail.com)
• Wolf Rocks Trail – Lauren Hale
• Mt. Misery to Mt. Joy (Valley Forge) – Christy Myers Baxter (christy.baxter@gmail.com)

30. South Carolina

River Walk (Rock Hill) – Melinda Hamby

31. Texas

• Barton Creek Greenbelt Trail (Austin) – Kristin VanderHey Shaw
• Wild Basin Wilderness Park (Austin) – A’Driane Nieves
• Fox Park (San Antonio) – Stephanie Renteria (Steph_spurs20@yahoo.com)
• Hermann Park (Houston) – Rebecca Simonton (becca.lizabeth@hotmail.com)

32. Utah

Mt. Timpaganos – Elizabeth Lamb (buffylamb@yahoo.com)

33. Vermont

• Pico Mountain (Mendon) – Sandy Celauro (sandycelauro@yahoo.com)
• Shelburne Farms (Burlington) – Becky Ruess (rebeccaruess@yahoo.com)
• Barre Bike Path (Barre) – Emily Ruth Tardie (gt2besaved@hotmail.com)

34. Virginia

• Seashore State Park (Virginia Beach) – Alison Parson (alisonwonderland210@gmail.com)
• Shenandoah National Park (Luray) – Jennifer Marshall (bipolarmomlife@gmail.com)
• Matteson Trail (Hampton) – Alecia Rought Gick (aleeecia@aol.com)

35. Washington

Badger Mountain (Richland) – Kristi Schupp (kristischupp27@gmail.com)

36. Wisconsin

Ice Age Trail – Jen Gaskell (jenrenpody@yahoo.com)

37. Wyoming

Grouse Mountain Trail (Buffalo) – Jen Sieve Hicks (jsievehicks@gmail.com)

CANADA

• Buffalo Pound Provincial Park (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) – Robin. M (postpartum.moosejaw@gmail.com)
• Signal Hill (St. John’s, Newfoundland) – Heather Cluett (hmmercer29@yahoo.ca)
• Casa Loma (Toronto, Ontario) – Lyla Jackson
• Boundary Bay (British Columbia) – Karen Leslie
• Fork of the Credit Provincial Park (Caledon, Ontario) – Genevieve DesRochers
• Knox Mountain (Kelowna) – Sarah Dhooge

MEXICO

La Barranca de Huentitan (Guadalajara) – Grace Parson

UNITED KINGDOM

• London, England – Beth Bone
• Caesar’s Camp (Aldershot, England) – Jo Webb

THE NETHERLANDS

Rotterdam – Karin Den Oudsten

NEW ZEALAND

Mount Flagstaff (Dunedin) – Kate Sears (June 22)