Story and photo by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Back in January, we first told you about David Town’s decision to participate in Fred Hutchinson’s Climb to Fight Breast Cancer in honor of his wife Lisa, a breast cancer survivor.

Last night, David and Lisa held a fundraiser at Talarico’s in The Junction, to help reach David’s goal of raising $5,000 by June for the summertime climb.

Fittingly, many of the works were nature photos donated by Northwest photographers such as Justin Reznick, Karen Crowe and Steph Abbeg, with Wallflower Custom Framing (WSB sponsor) and U-Frame-It donating framing for some of the prints. Raffle items were donated by Liberty Bell Printing, and a messenger bag made by Lisa Town was among the offerings.

Talarico’s donated the space, and the food and music was provided by guitarist/vocalist Justin Kausal-Hayes.

David notes: “(Prior to the fundraiser) we raised $2,325. We have to turn in $2,500 by April 1 and the full $5,000 by June 1.”

By the end of the evening, all the items had sold for at least their minimum bids, raising another $1,000 for the Climb.

Earlier in the day, Lisa walked two junctions — Admiral and Alaska — passing out flyers announcing the event. She says it was “the best sense of community I’ve ever had. … This whole process has been a community situation, with a good beginning and end.”

David continues to train for the June event, finding trails that are “as steep and far as possible” and has been hiking Mailbox Peak, which is “super steep,” with a 4,000-foot elevation gain in two miles.

To donate to David’s efforts, you can visit his website at: climb4cure.blogspot.com