Ascent for Alzheimer’s –The annual ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa
Ascent for Alzheimer’s (AFA), now in its 16th year, is a signature fundraising event benefiting the Alzheimer Society of B.C.
As many of you know, last year Martin and Esther Kafer, joint Honorary Presidents of the BC Mountaineering Club, joined the 2012 AFA Team and in late September hiked up Mt.Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa and the highest “free standing” peak in the world. They were then entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest man and woman (85 and 84 years respectively) to complete the ascent -quite an achievement!
As a follow up to the Kafers’ achievement, I think it would be very fitting if each year in the future at least one member of a member club of the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC would agree to join the AFA in their annual event. As the BCMC is one of the largest (perhaps eventually the largest?) member club of the FMCBC, I feel our club should be a good source of potential participants in this event. In this way there would be some continuity of our members not only supporting the very worthwhile cause of the Alzheimer’s Society of BC, but also ascending this special mountain. In order to “practice what I preach”, this year I decided to join the 2013 AFA team, and so the participation of an FMCBC member in the AFA project is assured for another year.
I suspect that many of our members will have already exceeded the summit altitude of 19,340 feet /5895 meters, and many will have climbed more technically challenging peaks, but this trip has an extra challenge which I think could inspire some of our members. This challenge is that each team member agrees to raise a minimum of $10,000 in donations –100% of which goes to support the work of the Alzheimer Society of B.C. The team members also agree to pay all their own costs to travel to Africa in order to participate in the Ascent for Alzheimer’s. Details are found at www.ascentbc.ca.
We know there are many worthwhile organisations that ask for support by way of a cash donation and/or volunteering, and so what is special about this project and the Alzheimer Society? For one thing, the journey is designed to reflect the mountainous struggle faced by those impacted by Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is the third most feared disease among British Columbians and is a fatal disease with no known cure. Unless we act now, the prevalence of dementia in B.C. is projected to more than double within one generation. In BC, there are currently over 70,000 people living with dementia, nearly 10,000 of those are less than 65 years old, and 15,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Significant medical advances in the Alzheimer's field have been made in the last 10 years, but research into this disease remains significantly underfunded, especially when compared with other more well-known diseases. Today, the combined direct (medical) and indirect (lost earnings) cost of dementia in Canada is $33 billion. If nothing changes, this number will skyrocket to $293 billion a year by 2040 and so more support is needed both for those persons in need and for more research.
To encourage persons to participate in this program, the Society provides assistance for fundraising and fitness training. Martin and Esther were initially very concerned about raising $20,000 between them but in the end, with a lot of help from mountaineering friends, they raised a total of over $25,000-also quite an achievement. Fundraising is made easier by using the internet, and for those interested in supporting me in this project please follow the instructions below:-
1.Visit www.ascentbc.ca
2.Click on “Donate Now”
3. Click on “Brian Wood”
If you have your plastic handy, you can find out how easy it is to make a secure on-line donation to the Society, and if you do, you should receive a taxable donation receipt very shortly. Thank you very much for your generosity to help me attain my funding goal in aid of an important and worthy cause .
Also, please inform your friends and club members so that we can maintain the momentum of this project into the future.
Thank you,
Brian Wood
The direct link to Brian Wood's page is here: