May 25, 2022

Grape-Nuts Cereal Awards Nine Fearless Female Explorers

To celebrate the 125^th anniversary of Grape-Nuts^® cereal, more than $100,000 was donated to help women explorers who are blazing new trails by fueling their journeys. Between March 15^th and March 30^th, 2022, we reviewed all active GoFundMe campaigns created by women planning to trek to Mount Everest, Antarctica or other 2022/2023 expeditions.

No application was necessary to be considered: all donations were made at the sole discretion of Grape-Nuts based on the appeal of the explorers’ GoFundMe campaigns and their overall need for support.

We were blown away by the talent and tenacity of the nine women who were selected to be sponsored by Grape-Nuts. Keep reading to learn more about the recipients of more than $100,000 to help fuel their journeys and make history:

1. Amal Morse, documentarian
2. Dej Knuckey, 2041ClimateForce leader
3. Heidi Jones, Sweat to Change founder
4. Lhakpa Sherpa, climber
5. Lucy Westlake, climber
6. Meghan Buchanan, aerospace engineer
7. Missy Wilson, Black Women who Kayak chapter admin
8. Sara Safari, Climb Your Everest founder
9. Tiffany Jones, climber

Amal Morse

Amal Morse is a documentarian with a passion for environmental issues. She just completed a trek to Antarctica with the 2041ClimateForce expedition where she trained on climate science, sustainability, and leadership skills. Amal plans to continue exploring and hopes that her next adventure will take her to space.

Dej Knuckey

Dej Knuckey recently completed a trek to Antarctica with the 2041ClimateForce expedition to train as a leader in climate change and sustainability. Her journey also served as an exploration of her father’s legacy as an explorer—he traveled to Antarctica in 1958 to lay the groundwork for the Antarctic Treaty.

Heidi Jones

Heidi Jones is the founder of ‘Sweat to Change’, an all-female fitness group in NYC meant to provide a supportive, non-judgmental environment to empower one another through working out and giving back to charity. Heidi is leading 4 other women up Kilimanjaro this summer as an example to themselves and the world of the power of the female spirit.

Lhakpa Sherpa

Lhakpa Sherpa grew up in the shadow of Mount Everest in Nepal. She became the first Nepali woman to ever summit Everest in 2000 and has since summited eight more times. Lhakpa moved to the U.S. and works at Whole Foods to provide for her kids as a single mom. In April, she returned to Nepal with the goal of making a 10th climb and setting a record of the greatest number of Everest summits for a woman.

Lucy Westlake

Lucy Westlake is the youngest woman to have climbed the 50 highest points in the U.S., completing a climb of Denali at the age of 17. Now at age 18, Lucy aims to become the youngest person (male or female!) to complete the Explorer’s Grand Slam (climbing the world’s Seven Summits and skiing to the last degree of the North and South Pole) as she took on Mount Everest. Since receiving her Grape-Nuts funds, Lucy successfully completed her trek on May 13^th, becoming the youngest American woman to do so.

Meghan Buchanan

Meghan Buchanan is an aerospace engineer and motivational speaker. With a diagnosis of dyslexia, she has been overcoming adversity since a young age. Meghan later suffered a life-threatening snowboarding injury that broke her femur and doctors thought she would never walk without a cane. She has since climbed Kilimanjaro and just began her climb of Mount Everest, working toward the Explorer’s Grand Slam.

Missy Wilson

Missy Wilson is the Chapter Admin for the Houston chapter of ‘Black Women who Kayak’, a nonprofit that inspires and empowers women of color to break barriers. They aim to dismantle stereotypes of what African American women will and won’t do in sports and outdoor spaces where they are seldom seen. This August, Missy and another member of BWWK will trek to the remote wilderness of Alaska on an all-female expedition.

Sara Safari

Sara Safari is the founder of Climb Your Everest, a nonprofit that supports marginalized women through leadership programs. She is working toward completing the Explorer’s Grand Slam and just began her ascent of Mount Everest after a failed attempt during an earthquake in 2015.

Tiffany Jones

Tiffany Jones lost both of her parents to cancer and was just recently diagnosed with breast cancer. This July, she will climb Kilimanjaro with a group that is raising money for cancer research and treatment. Tiffany has never attempted a major climb before and is excited to challenge herself.

For nearly a century, Grape-Nuts cereal has been empowering explorers to adventure across the world and make history. Learn more about the impact Grape-Nuts had on iconic expeditions like Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s heroic 1953 Mount Everest climb.

Be sure to follow Grape-Nuts cereal on Facebook and Instagram to follow these amazing female explorers’ journeys along and stay up to date on the latest brand news. Fans can also join the Grape-Nuts Secret Super Fans Facebook group to engage with other enthusiastic members of this nutty community.