Giving Tuesday

Today is “Giving Tuesday.” This is timely, not so much because I am in the process of trying to raise funds for an organization doing good work in East Africa, but because I have been thinking a lot about what “giving back” means as a person climbing a mountain to raise funds.

Eleven of us, plus guides and porters, plan to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in January 2013. One of my fellow climbers, Tony, recently set up a blog to share his story of climbing to the top of Africa.

A segment of Tony’s inaugural post resonated with me:

In some ways I feel like I must be cheating. The people at eMi and their volunteers and associates have already invested countless hours of their lives laying the ground work for improved conditions in the East African regions. I’m just going to climb a mountain and raise a bit of money. In fact, it would be hard to refute someone who supposed I was just using charity as an excuse to do some hiking in a beautiful country.

These sorts of thoughts have certainly crossed my mind a lot over the past few weeks. To be sure, I look forward to returning to East Africa, joining my friend Jeff, and taking on the challenge of hiking to the rooftop of Africa, a continent where I lived for half a decade. From my vantage point, this has all the makings of a very memorable experience, and the phrase “once in a lifetime” doesn’t strike me as entirely out of place.

But – while I certainly look forward to the climb – I’ve reached a point in my life when heading off for another adventure doesn’t, in itself, do much for me anymore. The novelty of accumulating stamps in my passport wore off a long time ago. Over the past several years, when I have traveled, I have planned around people and purpose. The climb fits the bill on both counts.

My friend Jeff asked several friends to consider joining him on the climb. Because of families, jobs or other life realities, most people respectfully declined. I am available and want to do this to support him.

I also believe in the work that eMi: East Africa is doing. I committed to help them raise funds toward their new office when I signed up for the climb. Originally, I set out to raise $7,000 for eMi. This fundraising figure would bring in significant help for eMi, but it would also allow me to cash in on some fundraising incentives to help make the climb financially feasible for me. I’m working as a substitute teacher – not the most lucrative job out there – but I’ve not felt completely okay with accepting the whole amount of financial help being offered toward the climb.

I’ve spent the past few weeks praying about how to go about fundraising. I’ve also crunched some numbers. Here are two conclusions I’ve reached:

1. The fundraising goal would be a lot more fun, if it had a Kilimanjaro tie-in. Therefore, I am asking people to “climb Kilimanjaro with me” by raising $5,895 – a dollar (USD) per meter of Kilimanjaro’s elevation.
2. When we reach the fundraising summit, I will promptly give $500 to eMi, with hopes of raising a bit more money and giving another $500, for a total of $1,000 from my personal funds. More specifics are available here.

I’m not looking to use charity as an excuse to climb a mountain. It’s the other way around. Through climbing, I hope to raise money to help my friend and his organization continue the excellent work they are already doing.

I hope you’ll consider climbing with me.