Are you an outgoing, outdoorsy organizer? Do you want to help alleviate suffering in the world caused by mental illness and promote the enjoyment and responsible use of wilderness trails?
Our success and growth is fueled by responsible, organized hike organizers, willing to plan, promote and lead.
It’s that simple – plan, promote, and lead. Here is how it works:
PLAN
1. Pick a hike or walk you would like to lead.
The length and difficulty level of your hike are really up to you. We find that two to five mile distances with moderate difficulty work best if you want to attract general interest.
2. Pick a date and time for your hike.
Six weeks or more in the future will give you time to recruit people to join the hike, promote your hike, and also give your hikers enough time to sign up and fundraise for the hike. Weekends, obviously, tend to attract more people, and a mid-morning start time seems popular.
3. Provide us with info to post the hike on our website
Provide us with information, date, starting time, estimated finishing time, starting trail-head or meetup spot, length of the hike, name of the trail or trails, the route you plan to take, and any attractions on the hike you would like us to highlight. We will work with you to collect the needed info.
PROMOTE
The best publicity is you. Here are some ideas
- Tell friends, family, co-workers, Facebook friends, Twitter followers
- You can approach local hiking clubs or service organizations.
- We can assist with drafting a media release that you could send to local newspapers and other media outlets
- Tell people standing in line at the convenience store and everyone you know about it!
- Be enthusiastic and let them know it is for a good cause.
- Direct everyone to the website for details and for registration.
Once someone registers, we will email them to get them started fundraising with their own fundraising page. All donations are handled through the website
LEAD
About a week before the hike, we will email a reminder with details on starting time and place to all registered hikers.
Any of your registered hikers who raise $250 or more will receive a HIKE for Mental Health shirt.
Start the hike, have fun, and take lots of pictures.
A NOTE ABOUT SAFETY
For safety reasons, we pay for and ask all hike directors to sign off on a criminal background check. We wish we didn’t have to do it, but out of an abundance of caution, we believe it is an appropriate measure to take. We hope you understand and appreciate the reasons for it. If you have any concerns, please do talk with us about it.
You can make a difference
HIKE for Mental Health is an all-volunteer organization. People like you are what make the organization go.
Sound like a great opportunity to get involved, click here to submit a contact form. We look forward to partnering together and moving forward to eliminate the stigma, one hike at a time.
This opportunity is of much interest to me. The questions that I have would be about the liability of the leader. How does this group make sure that in the event of injury, death, etc. that the leader and your non-profilt group is not called out for negligence? This question obviously surrounds the stigma of mental health, which is exactly the purpose of the hikes….to de-stigmatize mental health. Also, is addiction considered a mental health disease? Our country is lacking in funding for treatment of addiction and a hiking support group sure would be helpful in an addict’s recovery process, right?
Denise, Thanks for your questions. I will have our hike director, Diana, get in contact with you.
Hello,
I am also interested in leading a hike, but I have questions about liability. Please have someone contact me!
Lyndon
Hi Lyndon, someone will reach out to you within a few days. Thanks!
Hi Leo,
I have the same questions as Denise C. Hill. Please contact me.
Thank you!
Thanks, Kendra. We will reach out to you via email. Thanks!
interested
That’s great, Karen. If you are interested in talking further, please complete the information on link below and we will reach out to you. https://secure.hikeformentalhealth.org/np/clients/hike/survey.jsp?surveyId=50&
Hello Namaste from Nepal!
It is great to know this things, I am also so interested for leading hike. actually i am a trekking & tour operator in Nepal as well as hiker too. can i get this leading opportunity in Nepal hiking? Even i run social organization too which help to poor children for their education & healt. Thank you
Hi. I will send you an email to discuss. Thanks.
I love to hike and always thought it’s such a great way to release stress and so good for my mental health. My daughter is 21 and has been battling depression. I think it’s a lot to do with the social media world we live in. It’s so hard for these young adults. I’ve been looking to find a group for young adults who battle with depression so that she and I can join. I would lead one but not sure about liability. I wish I have a psychiatrist friend so that we could lead one. Please help. Thank you!
Hi Tam. Yes, social media creates a lot of stress for many people these days. We are not counselors, but if you contact me via the Contact Us form on this website, I’ll try to give you some ideas. The Contact Us link is on the top right of most pages or in the 3-line menu if you’re on your phone.