Why Climb Kilimanjaro for Charity?
Every
year thousands of people climb Mount Kilimanjaro for their own personal
reasons. Mount Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania, is one of the seven
summits and the highest peak in Africa (19,345 feet tall). Mount
Kilimanjaro has high name recognition and a reputation for being
an arduous, demanding trek. Yet surprisingly, climbing Kilimanjaro
is possible for nearly anyone who has a reasonable level of fitness
and training.
Therefore, to climb Kilimanjaro for charity is a high profile way to keep people interested in you, your expedition and ultimately - your charitable cause. Undoubtedly, the interest in the Kilimanjaro climb itself gives you the platform to communicate your message with far more frequency and greater magnitude than fundraising alone. And as people follow the months of your preparation, days of your travel and moments of your climb, you will have a captive audience for soliciting donations.
In recent years, there have been some well documented climbs on Kilimanjaro involving celebrities from all over the world.
In
2009, nine celebrities from the United Kingdom climbed Kilimanjaro
with operator African
Walking Company to raise money for Comic Relief, a British charity
organization, to help the people of Africa. The celebrity group
included Gary Barlow, Ronan Keating, Chris Moyles, Ben Shephard,
Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh, Denise Van Outen, Fearne Cotton, and
Alesha Dixon. Known as the BT Red Nose Climb, the event was covered
extensively by BBC and raised a staggering 3.3 million British pounds
(5.2 million US dollars).
In
2010, a group of American celebrities including Jessica Biel, Emile
Hirsch, Kenna, Lupe Fiasco, Santigold and others climbed Mount Kiliamanjaro
with operator Thomson
Safaris to raise awareness and bring change to the global clean
water crisis. The group raised money for the United Nations Foundation,
Childrens Safe Drinking Water Program, UN Refugee Agency,
and PlayPumps International. The Summit on the Summit Expedition
was filmed and televised by MTV.
Also
in 2010, six celebrities from Hong Kong climbed Kilimanjaro with
operator Ultimate
Kilimanjaro to raise money and awareness against man-made climate
change. The group included celebrity models Rosemary Vandenbroucke,
Jocelyn Luko, Anthony Sandstrom, as well as Janice Chia, Jack Brockway
and expedition leader Sean Lee Davies. The Project C:Change expedition
raised HK$600,000.