YOUR AD HERE »

Live PC Give PC: From rock climbing with kids to planting trees, diverse nonprofits aid community in many ways

Park City’s day of charitable giving returns Nov. 6 as Live PC Give PC celebrates its 10th anniversary.

The Park City Community Foundation’s annual nonprofit donation drive is a mostly virtual online contribution spree that has totaled more than $12.5 million in donations since 2011, according to the foundation.

This year’s goal is to achieve 5,500 unique sponsors, no easy feat considering Park City’s population is around 8,500 people, the county’s just above 42,000. The money pours in from visitors and locals alike, and there are more than 100 nonprofits to choose from that are based in or do work in Summit County.



If you’re looking for a cause, here are a few nonprofits that impact the Summit County community in very different ways.

More information about nonprofits — and how to donate to them — is available at livepcgivepc.org.



Elevated Mountain Guides

Salt Lake City-based Elevated Mountain Guides works with families in Summit County who, though they might be surrounded by the mountains, don’t regularly access them for recreation.

“Our overarching goal is helping underserved communities get into the outdoors,” said Zach Kohler, who is the Project Climb director for the nonprofit.

Project Climb is one of three central initiatives the nonprofit is pursuing. It helps teach kids the basics of rock climbing and recently started meeting again in-person at the climbing gym at the National Ability Center.

Other initiatives include a workbook designed to entice kids into the outdoors, with lessons similar to scavenger hunts that might have geology instruction packed in. The nonprofit is also working with partners like outdoor company Black Diamond to create online content that has lessons embedded in instructional videos about how certain types of equipment function and are manufactured, for example.

Kohler said the benefits of increasing access to the outdoors for children include building trust, relationships and self-confidence in unique ways.

The nonprofit also works with school groups, and Kohler said he’s seen relationships improve between students and staff members when they solve problems outside the classroom.

Before the pandemic hit, Elevated Mountain Guides was growing and had big plans for this year, Kohler said. They’ve since reverted to an all-volunteer status and Kohler says any donation will help ensure their operations remain sustainable into the future.

Mountain Mediation Center

Executive Director Gretchen Lee says one of the main areas the Mountain Mediation Center focuses on is tenant-landlord conflict resolution.

That’s become more important this year after the pandemic wiped out employment and income sources for many Summit County residents. Even while federal eviction moratoriums prevented some from being thrown out of their homes, not all were protected, and those overdue rent bills may still be hanging over tenants’ heads.

Mountain Mediation Center provides its services in both Spanish and English, and Lee said the nonprofit is often able to provide key advice for those navigating the legal system. For tenants in a dispute with a landlord, for example, she recommends open and consistent communication and keeping a written record of correspondence.

And it is often beneficial for tenants to pay off part of a debt and be able to demonstrate they have sought other avenues of relief, she added, though those tactics might not be immediately obvious.

Mediation helps achieve better results than simply letting the legal system decide cases, Lee said, as parties in a legal dispute generally leave a courtroom with one winner and one loser.

“Our mission statement is to help people prevent and resolve disputes and transform a conflict into progress,” she said.

The nonprofit has been around since 1998, but recently expanded its focus from small claims court to more community mediation, dealing with disputes like divorces, for example.

The services are offered on a sliding payment scale depending on a clients’ ability to pay, Lee said, and a donation would help the nonprofit’s ability to continue that practice.

Tree Utah

This year in the Park City area, Tree Utah is on pace to plant more than 2,000 trees. That’s a significant and growing percentage of the work the nonprofit does statewide, executive director Amy May said, estimating the total at around 10,000 trees across the Beehive State.

The nonprofit’s handiwork can be seen near the PC Hill trailhead and in Round Valley, May added.

The nonprofit received a grant from the Park City Community Foundation to pursue its work in the Park City area this year and to track the amount of carbon the trees it plants remove from the atmosphere.

May said each tree the foundation plants will capture 2,310 pounds of carbon dioxide over 50 years, and she said many will live longer than that.

She touted other arboreal benefits like increased air quality, beautifying urban and wild environments and shoring up areas that have been hit by invasive species.

The nonprofit also pursues outdoor education and works with schools to bring kids into the field to learn how to plant and care for trees, at least in non-COVID times.

May said every donation made during Live PC Give PC would be used in the Summit County area, and she was looking forward to expanding operations here during next planting season.

Entertainment


See more

Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Park City and Summit County make the Park Record's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.