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It's not how most people, in fact just about everyone, plan to spend their summer vacation. However, on Saturday July 2, DU staff member��Ben Gerig will begin hiking 250 miles along the rolling Colorado Trail, from Buena Vista to Durango. Last year��he��hiked the first half of the trail, from 91���� to Buena Vista. Gerig is completing the 500 mile hike in support of the local nonprofit restaurant So All May Eat (SAME)��Café.

“I’ll be heading out with a 30-pound pack and my cattle dog Fletcher to finish what we started last summer,” says Gerig. “It’s been fun to see my DU colleagues and friends rallying behind this effort—I think giving back is stamped into DU’s DNA, and I’m excited to be able to live that out on the trail.”

Gerig arrived at DU in the spring of 2012��and has worked with the Daniels College of Business, the Lamont School of Music and the University Communications and Marketing team. In the fall of 2013, he also joined three����to organize a benefit concert, helping raise funds for survivors of the massive floods in Boulder, Colo.

“As a part of our course at the business school, the final assignment was to coordinate a social capital project,” Gerig says. “Our team chose to host a classical music fundraiser, bringing people together to support Colorado’s regional flood relief efforts. I appreciate that community service is woven into Daniels business curriculum and across DU.”