The sixth annual Omondi Obura Peak Bag fundraiser for suicide prevention on Oct. 7 set a record this year, raising approximately $80,000. Close to 1,000 community members participated in the outdoors event, which made more than three times last year’s total, organizers said.
Peak Bag was founded in 2020 by members of the Class of 1988 men’s lightweight rowing team in honor of their teammate Omondi Obura ’88, who took his own life in 1989. Participants in the event engage disparate outdoor activities for the day to raise funds.
Economics professor Bruce Sacerdote ’90, who helps run the event, said that the House Communities, Dartmouth Student Government, the athletic department, the Office of the President and the Greek Life Leadership Council helped bring together participants. At the end of the event, College President Sian Leah Beilock gave a talk to students about the importance of mental health.
“It’s a chance to get exercise, it’s a chance to connect with friends … in a beautiful environment,” Sacerdote said.
Funds raised by Peak Bag go to the Omondi Obura Fund for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, which supports Campus Connect, Dartmouth’s evidence-based suicide prevention training program on campus, according to Kate Haffner ’88, who spearheaded the fundraising.
The total funds raised consisted of individual donations, confirmed pledges, 12 individual sponsors and the event’s first ever corporate sponsorship, Haffner said.
The fundraiser’s name stems from a past Dartmouth Outing Club program that allowed students to climb every 4,000-foot summit in New Hampshire. The feat became colloquially known as a “peak bag,” according to past reporting by The Dartmouth.
Scott Bertetti ’88, a teammate of Obura’s and a founder of Peak Bag, stated that aside from organizing the event, he and other members of the class of 1988 hike Mount Moosilauke every year to honor their friend.
“Over the four years that [Obura] was part of the team, he just made everybody smile,” Bertetti added. “He was always in a good mood.”
Jack Kline ’88, a teammate of Obura’s, said the event’s goal is to foster “connection” in the Dartmouth community at large.
“Just having someone reach out at a point when you think you’re alone might actually make the difference,” Kline said.
The event “brings together people from all over the world in hope, healing and action,” Counseling Center director Heather Earle wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth.
Peak Bag is “about breaking the stigma, sharing resources and fostering a supportive community where seeking help is seen as a strength,” Earle added.
Olivia Lawlor ’26, who participated along with the Dartmouth women’s basketball team, said her team participated by hiking Gile Mountain.
“It was honestly just a great time for all of us,” Lawlor said. “It was another form of team bonding, a way to be outside in the great weather, get our bodies moving.”
Addison Verrill ’28 said she and a group from the Dartmouth College Marching Band “went frolicking around Pine Park for an hour” for their Peak Bag day.
“We had a chill, calm study break,” Verrill said. “It was really nice.”
Chelsea Mills ’26, co-president of the Dartmouth Mental Health Union, said she likes how Peak Bag “leans into Dartmouth culture but then also recognizes this really important aspect of student life, which is mental health.”
Peak Bag aligns with MHU’s vision to increase student support for mental health, raises awareness about mental health struggles and decreases stigma, she said.
In her talk at the end of the day, Beilock told students that “how we take care of ourselves and others is critical to everything we do.”
“You are going to go out and be the next leaders of our democracy and that means not only taking care of yourself but knowing how to take care of the people around you,” Beilock said.
