Tonya Dreher has climbed Mount Everest before — or at least, she has climbed to base camp, an elevation of 18,000 feet.
This year, for the first time, two teenagers will join her and the rest of the group she has climbed with — her son Abe and his best friend, Fletcher Maggs.
Dreher runs a nonprofit, the Hope for Gus Foundation, in support of her youngest son Gus, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. For 10 years, she and her family have run the foundation, donating money raised to medical research.
“In 2015, I decided that I wanted to do something bigger than just the average fundraisers,” Dreher said, bigger than a gala or a 5K. “I decided I was going to go to the highest mountain the world, and trek to base camp for these kids who are losing the ability to walk. It was really successful, and it was amazing, and I thought we were just going to go once. Now we’re ended up going every other year, except for COVID.”
Over the years, the foundation has raised over $300,000 from these Everest treks, she said.
Dreher hikes with a team of seven other people, some of whom are also parents or grandparents of children with Duchenne. And this year, they will be joined by Abe and Fletcher, who are 18 and 17 and seniors at ConVal High School.
“It’s very sweet, because these two have been doing fundraisers together for our foundation since they were in fourth grade, running 5Ks and doing soccer tournaments and now they’re coming with me to Everest,” Dreher said.
“I am hiking Everest base camp for my brother and everyone who lives with this awful disease. We are just trying to raise as much money as possible to help give them a better life and fund research for Duchenne,” Abe stated.
The family has known Fletcher since he was in kindergarten, she added, and he is practically a family member.
“They’re excited, and a little nervous,” she said. “This is a big deal for them, they’re excited and they’re going to great, I know they will.”
The trek itself takes nine to 10 days, and this year, they started on March 15. The group goes to Everest’s base camp, well below the mountain’s summit of 29,000 feet, as a climb to the summit is too dangerous and expensive.
As they climb, the group carries a flag, bearing the names of hundreds of boys with Duchenne. Dreher said parents will reach out to her through social media to get their child’s name added to the flag, including some who have died.
Once they reach base camp, Dreher said the group holds a ceremony where they read all of the children’s names.
“We read them all, and it’s really emotional and touching, it’s a really great community-builder,” she said.
For information on the trek, go to everesttoendduchenne.org, and for information on the Hope for Gus foundation, visit hopeforgus.org.