Western NY Update
Apple(fest) of our eye
Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ
Forget the Great Pumpkin and all things pumpkin spice. Turn your taste buds on to a fresh apple smoothie or a hot caramel apple cider at this year’s Hilton Apple Festival.
The Climbing For Christ food booth – a fixture at Applefest since 2007 – is adding the apple smoothie to the 2026 menu. Visit our food booth on Saturday, Oct. 3 and Sunday, Oct. 4. We’ll again be cooking up pulled pork, walking tacos, mountain-fresh smoothies (strawberry and apple this year), caramel apple cider, and more.
Smoothie operators Jason Smith, foreground, and Joel Slesak.
We are blessed every year with a great crew (nearly four dozen volunteers) for this, our biggest local fundraiser. We have sold more than $15,000 in food and drink each of the last two years. Applefest has netted C4C more than $115,000 through the years.
Pray for good weather to produce another banner year to raise support for HIS ministry of Climbing For Christ. 
Run Bibi run
As grandparents, Elaine and I go by the Swahili moniker for grandma (Bibi) and grandpa (Babu). During one of our visits with daughter Hayley and son-in-law Mitch Harris (a C4C Canada Board member), grandson Jones was playing in their Denver yard with Elaine. Jones, who will be 3 on Halloween, implored his grandmother, “Run Bibi run.” I bought her the T-shirt.
Well, Bibi is signed up for the ROCtoberfest 5K. So is Babu. We are looking for a few teammates to join us on this fundraising run at Genesee Valley Park in Rochester on Saturday, Oct. 10. CLICK HERE[ROCtoberfest 5K presented by Strangebird] to register for the run.
More importantly, we’re looking for financial support for our team. We need to raise at least $1,000 so we can have a tent at this secular event, where we get to share about C4C and our best friend Jesus. Please go to Climbing for Christ and donate to Team C4C.
We have had a tent at ROCtoberfest the past four (non-COVID) years we’ve participated. This will be our seventh year at the ROCtoberfest after seven years at the Photo Finish 5K. We average more than $2,500 per year. The Photo Finish was sponsored by the George Eastman House. YellowJacket Racing, operated by old friends Ellen Brenner and David “Boots” Boutillier of Fleet Feet, picked up the event in 2018.
Pray, give, GO!
The Applefest and ROCtoberfest are just two ways you can provide helping hands to Climbing For Christ this fall. We have other needs and opportunities:
PRAY: Please lift our C4C Canada Annual Celebration on Saturday, Sept. 26 (1-2:30 p.m. Eastern). This will be a virtual meeting with Canada Board members in three time zones. Pray for Brandy Fisher, Pastor Al Robinson, Louis-Olivier Petelle, Kevin Tomalty, and Mitch, Elaine, and me. … Pray for the main Board’s Annual Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 10 (2-4 p.m.). Lift Mary Lindsay, Dave Smith, John Becker, incoming member Laura Copper, Michele Hoffman, outgoing member Steve Quakenbush, and Kevin, Brandy, and me. As we make 2027 budget decisions in Canada and overall, we continue to ask for God’s provision for work around the C4C world.
GIVE: I want to thank the 11 donors who helped me raise nearly $5,000 for my annual CLIMBATHON, which was done during Mission: Japan last month. Giving to this effort was impacted by our appeal for Nepal Disaster Relief after the devastating flash flood in northern Nepal on Aug. 26. I am grateful for the support which helped us surpass $100,000 in the 14 years we have done a CLIMBATHON. We’ve also received nearly $20,000 for Nepal. The big ask today is for ROCtoberfest. Again, please go to Climbing for Christ and donate to Team C4C.
GO! Want to get out? You can start with the Hilton Applefest. You can also join ministry partner Heritage Christian as they head for the hills on their annual “Enjoying the Mountains” outing in the Adirondacks. The Heritage-C4C hike around Moss Lake is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 8. Email C4C member and Heritage staffer Diane Sturmer at [email protected] for information.
Elaine and I will be GO-ing again on Mission: Nepal (Nov. 1-19) and Mission: Malawi (Dec. 7-22). Please pray for our travels.
The final Word
“And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.” – 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NLT)
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