Rob Hill, a Crohn’s patient and outdoor enthusiast from our home town Vancouver, BC  has embarked on the No Guts Know Glory Seven Summits campaign. His mission is to increase awareness of – and remove the stigma around – IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) by climbing the seven highest mountains on each of the seven continents. His goal is to show IBD can be overcome through hard work, community support and medical treatment. Rob recently accomplished his goal, and on Tuesday, May 25^th, he reached Mount Everest’s South Summit, and became the first Canadian with IBD to achieve this incredible feat. And, here is more of his story.

Rob Hill has shown Canada that IBD ,doesn’t stop him. 

On May 25^th, 2010, Rob reached Mount Everest’s South Summit, and achieved his goal of being the first Canadian with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) to reach the top of the highest mountain on each of the seven continents.  Rob founded IDEAS (Intestinal Diseases Education and Awareness Society) and created the No Guts Know Glory Seven Summits campaign in an effort to educate and raise awareness of IBD, and eliminate the stigma felt by Canadians suffering through this disease.

Rob suffers from Crohn’s disease, a painful and highly stigmatized condition affecting the digestive system. Crohn’s, along with ulcerative colitis, makes up IBD, which affects more than 200,000 Canadians.  Currently, there is no cure.

After his diagnosis in 1994, Rob has made it his personal mission to not only overcome his disease, but to show others that having IBD doesn’t have to control their lives. When he’s not scaling the highest mountains in the world, Rob spends much of his time visiting with children affected by Crohn’s disease. 

IDEAS is home to The Youth Rally summer camp, the School Talks elementary school program, and IBD Adventures.  Each program aims to educate today’s youth about IBD, and also provide a safe and fun environment for kids to come together and meet others who may be dealing with similar life experiences.

During a visit at Calgary’s Camp Horizon Youth Ostomy Camp, Rob met 16-year-old Carly Lindsay. She was so moved by Rob’s campaign, she ended up joining him on his 2010 trek to Mount Everest’s base camp.  Carly, who lives in Waterford, Ontario, received an ileostomy at the age of nine (which she nicknamed “trouble”) and really connected with Rob’ courageous story.  “Rob is the ultimate role model,” says Carly, and avid swimmer. “As someone who knows how challenging it can be to have an ostomy, he proves that you can do anything you put your mind to, whether it’s swimming, hiking, or even climbing a mountain.”  Carly’s main wish is to share her story and inspire others to say “IBD doesn’t stop me!”

Their journey has shown others that with proper treatment and support, IBD doesn’t have to stand in the way of their dreams. Rob hopes his story will encourage others to come out of the shadows and share their own tales of courage and strength. To learn more, visit www.weneedideas.com.

Thank you Rob for sharing your story with our readers.  Happy adventures to you!

Winner: Anne-congrats!

The GGS crew are pleased to team up with The American Cancer society to gently remind, us woman type, to not forget about about YOU! with the Choose You Campaign.  We urge all of our readers to take the online pledge that could save your life!

We recently posted Ellen Pompeo spreading the word about the Choose You Campaign.  Check out the video here.

BUT, we really want YOU to get involved in this great campaign.  Its super easy to get started. The online pledge is for a specific health goal in one of 5 categories:

1. Eat right
2. Get active
3. Get recommended health screenings
4. Protect your skin
5. Quit smoking  

If you do all of these things, than you get an A++.  Sadly most of Americans DO NOT.  The site has a lots of resources, ideas and tips to help you stay on track with your “Choose You commitment”.

The American Cancer Society, Choose You Movement shines a light on a hidden issue: that while one in three American women will get cancer in her lifetime, about 50% of cancer deaths could be prevented if more emphasis were placed on early detection and healthier lifestyles including maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise and avoiding tobacco.

We all need to STOP what we are doing right now and CHOOSE YOU!  We want you to be a super, fit and healthy Granny! (one day)

The American Cancer Society is offering a GGS  reader a Choose You Healthy Lifestyle Swag Bag to get you started on your commitment to choose you! 

In the Swag Bag is:

• Super cute Choose You t-shirt
• Stainless steal water bottle
• Neutrogena sun screen
• Pens
• Choose You Pins
• $10 Walgreens Gift Card and more! 

To enter answer this question:

What pledge are you going to make to CHOOSE YOU ?

The winner will be chosen on June 10, 2010.  Good Luck!  Contest is open to US residents only.   GGS was provided with this information and gift package by the American Cancer Society.

Extra Brownie Points for emailing all of the gals in your life this very important message. 

Live on the East Coast?  Maybe you can help…

In 2009, The Fresh Air Fund‘s Volunteer Host Family program, called Friendly Town, gave close to 5,000 New York City boys and girls, ages six to 18, free summer experiences in the country and the suburbs. Volunteer host families shared their friendship and homes for up to two weeks or more in 13 Northeastern states from Virginia to Maine and Canada.

The Countdown to Summer 2010 is on and The Fresh Air Fund is in need of host families. If you or someone you know is able to host, please sign up now by visiting their website.

“We made s’mores and hot dogs over the fire. I’ve never cooked outside before!”

Fresh Air children are boys and girls, six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. Children on first-time visits are six to 12 years old and stay for either one or two weeks. Youngsters who are re-invited by the same family may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many enjoy longer summertime visits, year after year. A visit to the home of a warm and loving volunteer host family can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child. All it takes to create lifelong memories is laughing in the sunshine and making new friends.

The majority of Fresh Air children are from low-income communities. These are often families without the resources to send their children on summer vacations. Most inner-city youngsters grow up in towering apartment buildings without large, open outdoor play spaces. Concrete playgrounds cannot replace the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes.

Fresh Air children are registered by more than 90 participating social service and community organizations located in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the five boroughs of New York City. These community-based agencies are in close contact with children in need of summer experiences in rural and suburban areas. Each agency is responsible for registering children for the program.

Today, “Girl Get Strong” is “Girl Choose You”!

It seems that one of our favorite nonprofits, the American Cancer Society, has embraced our motto! The Society has teamed up with Gray’s Anatomy actress, Ellen Pompeo, to launch The Choose You Movement, which encourages women to put their own health first in the fight against cancer.

The concept is simple: you can’t take care of others if you don’t taker care of yourself. And in the constant struggle between family, work and self, we know how difficult this can be. Choose You challenges women to make healthier choices, and supports them in their commitment to eat right, get active, quit smoking and get regular health checks.

As a busy actress, wife, new mom, Pompeo knows firsthand how important it is for women to put their health first. ”My daily schedule is quite hectic, but I have to put my health first in order to be the best mom and wife I can be,” said Pompeo, the official Choose You Ambassador. “Choose You offers a powerful new platform to help women adopt healthy lifestyle choices to help prevent cancer.”

The Choose You Movement sparked from a disturbing and relatively unknown fact: One in three American women will get cancer in her lifetime. According to the American Cancer Society, about half of all cancer deaths could be prevented if people maintained a healthy weight through diet and regular exercise; avoided tobacco products; and got recommended cancer screening tests. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to incorporate these healthy behaviors into a busy lifestyle. In fact, a new national survey of approximately 2,000 women ages 25-64 revealed that they are so busy being caretakers of others, they have little time to take care of their own health.

To battle this dangerous trend, women everywhere are encouraged to make the Choose You Commitment by visiting ChooseYou.com. Here, you can make a pledge to achieve a personal health goal, whether it’s eating more vegetables, quitting smoking, going to the doctor or hitting the gym. The help you along your journey, Choose You participants and visitors to ChooseYou.com will have access to online support and tools such as a calorie calculator, virtual dietitian, nutrition and activity quiz, smoking cost calculator, prevention and early detection videos, and a desktop helper with daily health tips.

As we always say: Girl, Get Strong… and Choose You!

Sarah, right, and I in SoCal last spring

I’ve written about the inspiring and amazingly dedicated ultra-marathoner Sarah Stanley (pictured on the right) a few times here on Girlgetstrong.com and I’m really excited to share her latest project with you.

It’s called Run, Ride, Inspire and Sarah’s doing just that: Sarah’s 2010 project will incorporate 50 mile run/ride events in all 50 states, taking place over 5 months.

Her goal? To inspire others to join her in reversing the childhood obesity epidemic in 2010.

It’s going to be an amazing journey and you can give her a word of encouragement and show your support for her goal over at her website.  You can also find her on twitter @sarahstanley.

Here at GGS, we’re really excited to be supporting Girls on the Run and to that end, I’ll be running the BMO Vancouver Marathon on Sunday May 2/10 (half marathon for me) to raise money for their great cause: Girls on the Run® is a life-changing, experiential learning programs for girls age eight to thirteen years old. The programs combine training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts.

Every girl deserves a chance: if you are able to help out, you can donate to Girls on the Run at our fundraising page here.  We appreciate your support!