Palmer Trinity freshman Emily Kalbac helped raise over $18,000 this year for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), with half of the money coming from Take Steps for Crohn’s and Colitis, CCFA’s largest fundraising event. Additional money came from this year’s Climb-4-Colitis, which was started by Emily’s brother Tyler.
Five years ago, Palmer Trinity alumnus Tyler Kalbac was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) after a traumatic baseball injury. The following year, Tyler started Climb-4-Colitis to raise money for CCFA. In the succeeding years, Climb-4-Colitis has raised more than $20,000, which goes to help 1.6 million people suffering from IBD. Emily plans to continue her brother’s legacy by hosting Climb-4-Colitis each year to help raise money for Crohn’s and Colitis research.