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  • Hikers crossing the Highbridge
  • Community members carrying our mascot
  • Families make giraffes to take home
project leader
Ysabel A
location
W. 167th St. & Park, Edgecombe Ave
(Sunken Playground)
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the project

On June 1st, 2024, CLIMB (City Life Is Moving Bodies) and its community partners will be celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Hike the Heights, and we want to make this our biggest and best party to date to celebrate this significant milestone. Hike the Heights is an annual volunteer-planned and community run event that links 2,000+ local residents with their beautiful parks in Northern Manhattan, including the “Giraffe Path,” a trail that connects 7 parks and surrounding neighborhoods. The event brings together people of all ages for hiking and a community party with arts, games, healthy food, and active fun in their parks.

We connect people with the parks in their communities. Hike the Heights shows local residents the natural resources that exist in their own back yard to encourage them to engage with and use the parks, making them safer for everyone.

We build community through the arts.  In preparation for the event, local children from Head Start groups, pediatric clinical facilities, and local schools work with CLIMB and our community partners to create giraffe statues from recycled materials.  On the day of the event, these giraffes decorate the parks and line the hiking trails, lending a playful feel to the volunteer-led tours through parks previously marked by violence. 

We promote environmental stewardship.  Before Hike the Heights, CLIMB and its partners host park clean-up and trail maintenance days so local residents can give back to the parks that give them so much.

We bridge communities. Hiking along the giraffe bridges the divide between surrounding neighborhoods. Neighbors from Central Harlem and Washington Heights/Inwood hike along the giraffe path and interact with one another, strengthening bonds and building community. 

This year we want to celebrate how connecting public spaces brings people together and makes the surrounding neighborhoods better for everyone by activating the newly reopened and beautiful High Bridge. We are excited to be inviting community partners and neighbors from the Bronx to hike across the High Bridge to join this year's party!!

the steps

Conduct outreach to past and new community partners


Host collaborative event planning meetings to plan, arrange and hold the hikes and community parties in the parks

Support partners in community initiatives through cross promotion and 'showing up'

Recruit past and new sites for children’s giraffe making workshops, and coordinate these trainings

Recruit seed groups and hike leaders

Expand hike start locations into more neighborhoods

Fundraise for events costs including party activities requested by local residents

Hold park clean-up days to remove litter and maintain trails

Set-up the Giraffe Path installation

Celebrate the vibrant Northern Manhattan and Bronx communities and parks at our June 1st event!

why we're doing it

Unfortunately, many of these parks and places along the 'giraffe path' trail have been forgotten by locals who retreated from parks during the epidemic of violence that plagued Northern Manhattan in the 1980s and early 1990s.  Volunteer groups and the City Parks Department have brought these parks and surrounding neighborhoods a long way on the path to restoration and, though some additional maintenance work is required, what these spaces need now are increased foot traffic (and bike, rollerblade, wheelchair, & stroller traffic as well!).  Neighbors and visitors must be invited to come out and learn about these trails. We have found that once residents learn about their parks, they fall in love with the trails and are more likely to be involved in park stewardship and other community volunteer activities. In coming together for a celebration at the Sunken Playground, lovingly referred to by locals as 'The Pit', we hope to encourage others to reclaim these parks and public spaces, using them as they would their own backyard, increasing physical, social, civic activity in the neighborhoods they are in. 

CLIMB and Hike the Heights seek to raise awareness about these public spaces and build a sense of community pride and ownership over them. Parks are important community assets for public health and community well-being. By connecting neighbors with their parks, we hope to promote both healthy lifestyles and community advocacy for these beautiful natural assets. 

budget

$5,000 Food and water for 1,200 + participants and volunteers

$900 Portable bathrooms, cleaning supplies, toiletries

$900 Art supplies 

$700 Outreach materials

$500 Rentals (chairs, tables, tents, stage)

$1,500 T-shirts

$300 DJ

$200 Park permits and cleaning materials

 

 

PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED $10,000.00
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee N/A $0.00
ioby Donation Processing Fee 4% $288.07
TOTAL TO RAISE $10,288.07
Donation processing fees apply to donations only. 100% of match funding goes to projects. Please note, fees are estimated here and final numbers may change based on the final amount raised and amount of match funding applied to this campaign.

 

updates

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photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Ken Nadolski & Ben Nebo (Cinco de Mayo)
  • Alfred K.
  • Heather Butts
  • Anonymous
  • Kye & Fam
  • Shorewalkers
  • Maria H.
  • Mindy F.
  • Hike the Heights XXth in a row.
  • Mikhail A.
  • Ursula L.
  • David D.
  • Rise HTH XXth in a Row
  • Anonymous
  • HTH XXth in a Row
  • Michele CIPHER 2020
  • Dr Bob's Dreamers
  • Mommy Abreu
  • Anonymous
  • Cate T.
  • Robert Fullilove
  • Anonymous
  • Anon Ymous
  • M.A.
  • Ismaelys M.
  • Anonymous
  • Ken Nadolski & Ben Nebo
  • Familia Rodriguez
  • Michael J.
  • Nancy Bruning
  • Linsay H.
  • Audrey J.
  • Ysabel Abreu