Chris climbs to new heights
Forbes Rotary member Chris Finkel will fly out to Kenya in just a few days to climb Africa’s second highest mountain, Mt Kenya.Mr Finkel, former president of Rotary Forbes, will join eleven other Rotarians from Australia and New Zealand in climbing Mt Kenya, which is 4,985 metres, or 17,000 feet, in height.
The team plan to reach the Mt Kenya peak at dawn on the 100th anniversary of the allied Gallipoli landings - Anzac Day, April 25.
There the Rotary team will meet teams from the AIF, the Kenyan Army and hopefully a Turkish Army team and join them in the traditional Anzac Day dawn service.
The connection with Anzac Day and Kenya lies with Coolamon Rotary member, John Glassford, whose father was wounded but survived the first Anzac Gallipoli landing as a New Zealand soldier and settled in Kenya after commencing a very successful coffee plantation. He then went on to serve in the Kenyan Army during World War Two before John was born.
The idea of the Kenyan trek is to raise money for three beneficiaries - Legacy Australia, The ORK (Orphan Rescue Kits, Kenya) and Coolamon House Hout Bay Cape Town.
Mr Finkel and his fellow climbers have pledged to raise a minimum of $5000 each through sponsorship for the climb. His sponsors have been offered various levels of sponsorship starting with bronze sponsorships of one cent per foot ($170) through to diamond sponsorships of five cents per foot ($850) for the 17,000 foot climb.
The climb is expected to take four days to go up, with a dawn service held at the top of Mt Kenya for Anzac Day, and a day and a half to go back down. It is currently the wet season in Kenya, so climbers will be challenged with the rain, as well as snow towards the top of the mountain. Mr Finkel has been preparing for the trek since August last year. His training involves an 8km walk every morning with a 10kg backpack, as well as training at Forbes Gym four mornings a week with a program implemented by owner Mary Fox.
Mr Finkel is one of four members of the climbing team over the age of 70 but said he is looking forward to the challenge. “I’ve been in Rotary for 35 years and this is a way of helping people and having a little bit of adventure at the same time,” he said. “At my age, you don’t want to leave it too much longer.”
Mr Finkel expects to go over the $5000 fundraising goal and would like to thank the following sponsors for their support for his climb; ASI Capital, BDM Financial Planners, Forbes Rotary Ipomoea, Leo and Meg Butler, John Saleh and Eleanor Lewis, Forbes Rotary, Barters’ Auto Repairs, Ben Hall Beau Thai Restaurant, Bokeyar Electrical, Court Press, David Bicket and Associates, El Ponderosa Family Trust, Jelbart Dawson and Co, Midpro Engineering, T and M Tyres, Vandenberg Hotel, Frank Spice Auto, JT Cock and Sons, McFeeters Motor Museum, Pauline Allen, Gibson’s Grove and Parkes Rotary
.
For anyone wishing to help Mr Finkel and Rotary International, donations can be made by contacting Forbes Rotary treasurer Graeme Uphill on 0427 640 065 or going to the group’s crowd funding website,
Story courtesy Forbes Advocate