Recap Blog: To the Ends of the Earth 2023
On March 29, 2023, the Students on Ice Foundation returned to New York City for the first time in four years for their fundraiser, To the Ends of the Earth. Hosted at the historic Explorers Club, this event reunited some of the foundation’s closest friends and supporters for an inspiring evening in support of SOI’s impactful expedition programming.
The event began with a light reception. As guests mingled and made new acquaintances, organic connections formed between individuals and organizations. The energetic networking session was capped off with an incredible welcome speech from, Explorer’s Club President, Richard Garrioutt.
Following Mr. Garrioutt, our host and M.C. for the evening, Evan Solomon welcomed guests to the dinner hall and made his opening remarks which set the tone for what would be an incredible evening of support and generosity. A video presentation highlighting SOI’s 2019 Arctic Expedition served as a great reminder of how the support from SOI’s last fundraiser came together to reinforce such an incredible learning journey. After the video, SOI’s Founder and Expedition Leader, Geoff Green took to the stage to share more about the foundation, and the work that they do.
Mr. Green explored the history of SOI, and how the foundation’s guiding message came to be; “to bring youth, educators, scientists, elders, explorers, and visionary leaders from around the world on experiential ship-based expeditions in the Arctic, Antarctic, and places in-between.” He outlined why experiential learning is such a key aspect of the organization, and illustrated its importance through the continued success of our programming, and the alumni who pursue careers within environmental industries, and the sustainable blue economy. To conclude his speech, Mr. Green invited the evening’s musical performers to take the stage, Sunsdrum.
Siqiniup Qilauta (Sunsdrum) lit up the stage with an incredible traditional throat singing performance. They demonstrated and explained some different types of songs, and the game behind it all. Our guests even got their own opportunity to feel the impact of experiential learning as Sunsdrum conducted a brief throat singing workshop which brought smiles all around. One lucky guest even made a donation and went one on one in a throat singing competition.
As the guests smiled and laughed on the back of an incredible interlude, the evening’s meal made its way into the hall. The dinner was sponsored by one of SOI’s oldest friends and supporters, Tarek Sherif, to whom SOI extended a special thank you. This led us to the highlight of the evening, our guest speaker, Isabella De La Houssey.
Isabella captivated guests as she described the “explorers mindset,” and how that has motivated her throughout her life. An accomplished ultra-athlete, Isabella has biked across the US, the UK, Tasmania and Taiwan, from Malawi to South Africa and Amsterdam to Luxembourg, swum across the Long Island Sound and the Canal de St. Marc in Haiti, run over 100 marathons and completed marathons on every continent and in every US state, completed more than 20 ironman races, ultra-endurance runs across the Sahara in Libya, through the Namibian Desert, across Costa Rica and South Africa, and climbed four of the seven Summits. Incredibly, Mrs. De La Houssey has completed many of these feats while battling stage-4 non-smokers lung cancer, and with her five children by her side. She credits her experience aboard an SOI expedition as an inspiration and sees these educational experiences as a platform for youth to develop that explorer’s mindset. Guests were awestricken and deeply inspired by her words.
To help demonstrate the impact that an expedition can have on the youth, Malaika Vaz, an SOI alumni shared her experiences with the program. Now the founder of a video production company that focuses on wildlife, she shared how she was inspired to take positive action in a way that was impactful and meaningful to her.
Toward the end of the evening, Mr. Sherif once again proved to be the example of generosity as he started an outpouring of additional donations and support for SOI’s upcoming youth programming. Guests went above and beyond as they joined in supporting the foundation with additional donations. With the silent auction’s final bid being placed, and winners announced shortly after, the evening began to conclude. Guests collected their winning items, including art from SOI partners and alumni, trips from Adventure Canada and Lindblad, and even new Canada Goose outerwear, which was worn home by the lucky bidder.
As the evening concluded, new acquaintances began to feel like old friends. The evening’s inspirational and affable tone ushered everyone home feeling proud, accomplished, and hopeful.
Special thanks to the generous partners that made this event possible:
The Sherif Foundation
Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco
Lindblad Expeditions
Adventure Canada
Canada Goose
The Explorers Club