Challenge 2024
Dan weikel
The Deep to the Peak Challenge started from the idea that the impossible is possible by taking small steps forward towards a dream every day.
I am not a solo swimmer. I never swam in school. I am not a mountain climber. I am an ordinary 46-year old father of two young girls from Thousand Oaks, California attempting to swim 22.1 miles in the open ocean August 22nd and then following that swim up with a 22 mile trek summiting the tallest mountain peak in the U.S at 2.75 miles high (14,505 feet elevation) on September 15th.
I hope that the Deep to the Peak Challenge inspires people to be better to one another. Perhaps most of all to be better to themselves. To live life well. To be bold facing the best and worst that life can throw at us.
Now more than ever, I feel like we need each other through the highs and lows of this crazy life.In the daily rush, we sometimes forget that life is short.
We forget to put ourselves out there. But out there is where we find our happiness and fulfillment.
By creating the Deep to the Peak Challenge, I challenged myself to live life to its fullest. To put myself to the test. I hope that others are inspired to do the same in their own lives in their own way.
The Deep
The Peak
Charity Challenge! Helping Feed Everyday Families and Seniors In Need
So many people have come up asking about what I am doing, and how they can support this crazy Pacific Ocean swim and climb up the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Many of them suggested and offered to support a charity. So, I thought about that. How could we work together to help people?
Inflation Is Real - Let's Help Our Community
Over the last year, I've seen that inflation is real. More and more people are feeling stretched covering the simple basics of life.
Everyday families are hurting. The elderly living on fixed incomes are getting hit particularly hard by high prices.
More and more good people are in need, struggling.
That’s why for the Deep to the Peak Challenge, I am partnering with Rotary International and the Rotary Club of Westlake Village Sunrise to help support the following charities.
100 percent of all donations are going to support these good causes below. None goes to me.
I have volunteered at or directly donated to these local 501(c)(3) charities and can speak to their good works. The positive change they have made helping the Conejo Valley and Southern California is a source of pride.
Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank
Founded in 1971, the Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank is a very special food bank in my home town of Thousand Oaks that distributes more than 225,000 lbs. of food a year to the community. Their efforts help feed on average 180 families per month here in the City of Thousand Oaks, and local residents and families in need can get the food they need.
For more than 50 years, Manna has helped feed local residents that are struggling with a job loss, underemployment, disability, or fixed incomes. The grocery store on site operates at no cost to residents in need.
Started when the local area was in a recession and families were facing food insecurity, Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank remains just as relevant today as it was when founded five decades ago.
Senior Concerns
Since 1975, Senior Concerns is focused on serving the elderly in the Conejo Valley region. With many seniors living on fixed monthly incomes, rising prices have hit this group incredibly hard.
Senior Concerns not only helps feed the elderly, but cares for them by improving their quality of life.
Through the Meals on Wheels/Home Delivered Food programs, Senior Concerns addresses food insecurity for the elderly all year long, providing them with fresh, healthy meals.
So many seniors face issues like mobility and need help with basic care. Senior Concerns provides home visits and check ins, while offering a point of contact while providing them with the dignity and standard of life that they deserve.
Rotary International
Founded in Chicago more than 110 years ago, Rotary International is an organization that features chapters all over the country and world, including in the Conejo Valley. Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million people dedicated to helping our communities and world by helping others.
I am proud to be part of the Rotary Club of Westlake Village Sunrise, a group that has been making positive change in the Conejo Valley for forty years. A huge thank you to my Rotarians for encouraging me to include a charity cause for this challenge.
Working together with Rotary International and the Rotary Club of Westlake Village Sunrise, charity donations that we collect will be earmarked for Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank and Senior Concerns via their network.
100% of Donations Go to Charity
100 percent of Deep to the Peak donations will go to charity to be distributed by my local Rotary Club. All donations received by Rotary International via Deep to the Peak giving will be given to charity focusing on Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank and Senior Concerns.
Together, we can make a real difference in our Conejo Valley and Southern California Community feeding people and making a real impact in their lives. Let's pick each other up. We all need that sometimes. Please give what you can. Working together, even a little can go a long way. Thank you!
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