What is GISH?

Every year I begin to bombard my friends and colleagues to join me in what is invariably a wonderful and equally maddening time. For the first week of August is GISH, a magical scavenger hunt filled with tasks such as: Get a tattoo of Pope Francis permanently inked upon your skin (it seemed like a good idea at the time), Box up care packages for soldiers overseas and send them, or Create an outfit entirely from recyclable trash in your home, and wear it on a bus.

All of this in the name of fun, and charity. The proceeds of the entry fee are funneled through various charities and special needs groups. In the past teams have fundraiser to help provide food and shelter to Syrian refugees, or schools for children in Africa.

No matter the task it is always bound to bring both a smile and a grimace along with fantastic camaraderie. For the past six years I have competed in the more than 250 item Hunt, and through those years I have become friends with people from Europe, Australia, and even the exotic land of Iowa! We’ve maintained contact after all these years, celebrated birthdays, weddings, and births. And even met up in real life from time to time. Once you get past the unreasonable pain and suffering of seeing the list in its entirety, and the sheer overwhelming feeling of “I can’t possibly do this!”, you quickly find yourself forgetting the world at large, and enjoying the little things in life, like seeing the smile of an elderly nursing home resident as you serenade them with songs from their youth, while dressed in period costume.

It would be easy to describe GISH as “An international scavenger hunt.” But it is SO much more than just completing items on a list for points. It is an escape from boredom, it is a way to make a change in someone’s life, it is a coming together of a global community for the sheer purpose of silliness and good.

Simply put, GISH is life-changing. In every way.

-Jarred “Pope Leg” Schulte