Girls Education International could win a $25,000 grant if you vote now

Heidi climbing during HERA Climb4Life, SLC, 2007, photo by John Evans

December 1, 2008—Heidi Wirtz, professional climber and The North Face Athlete, up to win the $25,000 Inspiring Soles Award

The North Face athlete and professional climber Heidi Wirtz, co-founder of the nonprofit Girls Education International (Girls Ed), was notified in October that she was one of five semifinalists for the Inspiring Soles Award. Votes are now being collected to choose the finalist at the Inspiring Soles Website. Wirtz is the only climber in the group of athletes nominated for the award. Previous climbers who have won the award include Timmy O’Neill, who works with the disabled.


Heidi building a roof on a Moroccan House. Photo by Kris Erickson

Created by Crocs Inc. and Outside Magazine, the Inspiring Soles Award celebrates athletes who have dedicated their lives to shattering boundaries and raising awareness for meaningful causes. Wirtz has worked tirelessly for the past two years on fundraising and implementing projects for Girls Ed, and over the years she has regularly volunteered for HERA Climb4Life events, the Khumbu Climbing School and the dZi Foundation.

As a semifinalist, Wirtz received $5,000 to donate to the charity of her choice plus $500 worth of Crocs merchandise.

“It was fantastic to win $5000,” said Wirtz of the award. “It will pay for our Liberia Scholarship Program (LSP) through spring of 2010.” Implemented as Girls Ed’s first major project, the LSP provides $71 per year, per child to 47 girls in the mountainous regions of Liberia so they can pay their school fees.

As a finalist, Wirtz would win an additional $25,000, a Crocs shopping spree, a trip to Santa Monica, a full-page profile in Outside Magazine and a PSA ad for Girls Education International.

“If we win the $25,000, we could also pay for the viability assessment we need to do in a remote village in the Hushe Valley of Pakistan where we want to renovate a girls’ school,” Wirtz added, enthusiastically.

Girls Education International seeks to raise awareness and funds to help educate women and girls in impoverished areas in the mountainous regions of the world. For more information, please visit: www.girlsed.org or write to girlsed@gmail.com.

Heidi in Morocco, photo by Kris Erickson


Heidi in Morocco, photo by Kris Erickson