Remembering Christian Gary
- Bolder Options
- Jun 3
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Our Bolder Options community is heartbroken by the unexpected loss of Christian Gary, an active participant and leader in our mentoring and youth programs. Christian’s family has deep roots in the Bolder Options community. His mom, Mandee, worked with us for many years as a senior program coordinator, and all four of his siblings are former or current participants in our programs.
Christian joined Bolder Options just after his 11th birthday in June 2020. He graduated from our first-year mentoring program and remained deeply involved as a participant in our alumni program.
During his time with Bolder Options, Christian traveled to the Boundary Waters, completed both our I Believe and I Achieve programs focused on career exploration and professional skills building, and had recently begun participating in a financial literacy class.
Christian also grew into a leader within our community. He testified before the Minnesota Legislature in support of mentoring programs, traveled to Washington, D.C. with Save the Boundary Waters to advocate for BWCA protections, and delivered a powerful speech about the impact of mentoring at a Bolder Options event. He will be remembered for his humor, courage, individuality, and kindness.
President & CEO, Darrell Thompson, has known Christian and his family since they started. "Christian was a shining light. A young man full of potential that is gone too early. His presence will always be with us, and with our organization. He was full of life and love; he will be missed by all and never forgotten."
Many people have reached out asking how they can help. A GoFundMe has been organized to help ease financial burdens during this devastating time. Funds will support any needs that may arise as the family copes with this profound loss, giving them space to grieve.
Learn more about Christian:
Our staff has been available for extra support for young people in our programs who knew and cared for Christian and our team is doing what we can to support each other and the family during this devastating time.
