About S4C

Decatur Boland founded Summit4ACause with the goal of using the personal, physical challenge of climbing mountains to raise awareness for the environment and the extraordinary people and organizations supporting it. 

Summit4aCause was founded in 2018, after Decatur's Dad, Daniel, had a crazy idea.

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Decatur and his Dad had just moved to Park City Utah, and both him and his dad had been hiking, running, and exploring all around the Wasatch and Uinta mountains. One afternoon Dad asked Decatur if he'd be interested in going to Tanzania and climbing Kilimanjaro, one of the '7 Summits' of the world. After a little bit of research, the two agreed on a plan, and so started the Inaugural project of Summit4ACause.

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With the help of my Dad, I, Decatur Boland, launched this organization with the intention to make the world a better place. Since I was a kid, I've spent many weekends and evenings outdoors, so I feel that spending time anywhere in nature is special to me. So, I made the decision to apply my love for the environment and our planet to my Inaugural project and chose to raise money for the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. 

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Kilimanjaro 2018 - Project #1

The Sheldrick Trust was a fantastic choice, as their work is extremely unique. Their organization focuses around rehabilitating and caring for orphaned Elephants and Rhinos found in Kenya. 11-year-old me had chose DWST not only because it was focused on the environmental impact, but because of Tiki-Ri. Tiki, for short, is my childhood stuffed today that I'd always sleep with, and still have after nearly 17 years.

My main aim was to raise money for these magnificent creatures by attempting to surmount a difficult peak at a very young age, because people would see my challenge and hopefully understand the good that the Sheldrick Trust does. 

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So, after a few months of pitching my project and fundraising with dad, we set out to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and began our ascent of the tallest mountain (rather, volcano) in Africa. We made our ascent with Noel Hanna and a local guide service over a period of 6 days, enduring high winds and long days to reach the summit. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't the hardest thing I've done, especially as an 11-year-old, but we made it to the top and flew the Summit4ACause flag on the roof of Africa. 

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Now, with our half of the promise completed, we made a trip down to (DSWT headquarters location) to meet with them and present our donation. Being able to see the orphaned elephants that we’d helped and made care possible for was extremely special, as it made our struggles on the side of the mountain for the past week entirely worth it. As we left for home, little 11-year-old me had learned a few valuable lessons, and gained an appreciation for not just hard work, but how beautiful and fragile our planet is.