The seventh annual Omondi Obura Peak Bag fundraiser, which held its community picnic on Oct. 4 on the lawn of Baker-Berry Library, is projected to raise over $50,000 this year for mental health and suicide prevention efforts at Dartmouth. Registration reached 1,180 as of Oct. 5, according to an email statement from fundraising organizer Kate Haffner ’88.
Peak Bag was founded in 2020 by members of the Class of 1988 men’s lightweight rowing team in memory of their teammate Omondi Obura ’88, who died by suicide in 1989. Proceeds support the Omondi Obura Fund for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, which became a permanent endowment of the College in 2023. Approximately 1,000 people participated in Peak Bag last year, according to previous reporting by The Dartmouth.
The name Peak Bag comes from a former Dartmouth Outing Club challenge to climb every New Hampshire summit above 4,000 feet, a feat known as a “peak bag.”
Participation in the fundraiser now extends beyond climbing summits: Community members can also bike, paddle or complete another outdoor activity.
This year’s fundraising activities included a Dartmouth sailing team hike on Mount Cardigan, a Class of 1988 hike led by Pam Crandall ’88 and John Replogle ’88 at Holt’s Ledge and a women’s basketball team outing to a Dartmouth equestrian meet.
The picnic is sponsored by several campus organizations, including the President’s Office, the housing communities, Dartmouth Student Government, the Greek Leadership Council and Dartmouth Athletics.
Peak Bag’s on campus mental health initiatives are supported by alumni contributions, according to an email statement to The Dartmouth from economics professor Bruce Sacerdote ’90, who helps organize campus participation.
“We have a series of wonderful alumni donors who pledge to give a certain amount per participant,” Sacerdote wrote.
Donors commit to giving a specific amount per participant with the option to set a maximum donation cap, according to Haffner.
“This year, four out of 16 sponsorship pledges are uncapped, meaning those specific pledges will continue to match every additional registrant beyond our initial target,” Haffner wrote. “The collective pledge is a moving target that builds as new sponsors join right up through event day,” referring to Oct. 4.
Early campus outreach for this year’s event estimated that the event would raise $75 per participant from donor pledges, which was later revised to $50 per participant.
“The $75 figure in early campus outreach was an initial working target based on last year’s matching rate,” Haffner wrote. “As our sponsorship commitments came together this year, our target became $50 per participant.”
The Dartmouth previously reported that last year’s fundraiser raised approximately $80,000. That figure included a conditional corporate sponsorship pledge of at least $25,000 which “did not materialize,” leaving the final 2025 total close to $55,000, according to Haffner.
“The amount provided annually for programming is the Fund’s annual distribution, roughly estimated at 4% to 5% payout per year, which allows the principal to continue growing in perpetuity,” Haffner wrote. “Currently, those funds support Dartmouth’s suicide prevention training curriculum administered through the Counseling Center.”
Peak Bag specifically supports three initiatives: “Creating a Culture of Care,” “Campus Connect” and “Campus Connect Booster,” according to Haffner. “Creating a Culture of Care” trains participants to identify and reach out to students who may be struggling with mental health concerns and refer them to appropriate resources. “Campus Connect” and “Campus Connect Booster” are “evidenced-based” suicide prevention and crisis intervention programs that train participants to identify and refer students in crisis to the appropriate mental health resources, according to the Dartmouth Student Health Service at Dick’s House website.
At the community picnic on Baker Lawn that capped the Oct. 4 events, a cappella groups the Dodecaphonics, the Subtleties and the Dartmouth Cords performed.
Dartmouth Cords president Jack Eiff ’27 said the Cords first performed at Peak Bag last year.
“It’s a great one, obviously, for bringing the community together for a good cause,” Eiff said.
Women’s basketball guard Sierra Carson ’27 participated in Peak Bag by attending a Dartmouth equestrian meet with her teammates.
“Mental health is so important,” Carson said. “At Dartmouth, you’re balancing academics and everything, so it’s so good to just step out, be in the environment, live in the moment.”
Peak Bag activities will continue with an Oct. 11 apple-picking trip run by Hillel at Dartmouth and Aquinas House at Dartmouth. Students who register will contribute toward Peak Bag fundraising, Crandall said.
“The annual apple-picking trip is a longstanding interfaith tradition between Hillel and Aquinas House,” trip organizer Shelly Ness wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth. “This year, the trip’s timing aligned with Peak Bag, giving us a fun opportunity to incorporate it into that worthy program while continuing a tradition that brings our Jewish and Catholic communities together.”
Haffner encouraged students, faculty and staff to sign up for the three Counseling Center training programs that teach participants to recognize peers in distress and connect them with support.
“It is rewarding to learn how to approach a friend who is struggling and to be a bridge in difficult times,” Haffner wrote. “We all wish we had understood better how to help Omondi, and thus we hope to provide today’s students with the tools we didn’t have.”
The College’s suicide prevention and outreach specialist counselor did not respond to request for comment.
Isabel Menna ‘29 is a reporter from Leavenworth, Wash., is majoring in economics and is a member of the Dartmouth Ski Patrol.
