Hike2Mend Campaign 2024

Hike to Mend is our ongoing campaign honoring the journey that a parent takes to gain access to surgical care for their child. 

Join us this year on a hike for health equity, and help us raise awareness of health disparity everywhere. Hike a few miles so that, together, we can provide kids with the life-changing care that they need.

Our hike event was inspired by Joel’s aunt who traveled clear across Tanzania to try to save her young - orphaned - nephew who was dying of congenital heart disease. Unable to afford the bus fare, she hitchhiked with Joel in tow for a full week, traveling over 700 miles to reach our cardiac mission.

Hike to Mend is in honor of the distance that Joel’s aunt and countless other parents travel to try to gain access to surgical care for their child. But more than that, it’s also about the journey we all face when seeking to gain access to healthcare for a loved one, whether you travel on foot, by bus or try to navigate the obstacles of insurance eligibility, denial or simple advocacy, it is about the journey.

Join us on the hike or make an impactful donation, so we can help more kids receive the surgical care that they need.