Climbing Kilimanjaro for charity
Three months ago, I never believed I would do this, but now I’m feeling so upbeat, it’s unbelievable. I’m already thinking of my next trip afterwards, because I don’t want to have a letdown when I come back. Malcolm Preston, who will hike up Mount Kilimanjaro
As an agent with the Canadian Border Services Agency, Malcolm Preston is used to seeing people heading on the trips of their lives.
But the Pincourt resident will take his own once-in-a-lifetime journey later this month when he joins a group of 32 people on a hike up Mount Kilimanjaro. He leaves on March 30; the hike starts April 1 and lasts six or eight days up Africa’s tallest peak.
The group, called the Dream Mountains Foundation, is raising money for seven charities. The goal of the organization, headed by founder Shawn Dawson, is to reach the highest peaks on all seven continents, raising money for charity in the process.
An avid hiker, Preston is paying about $6,000 to go on the trip, and his goal is to raise $5,000 for a charity called Ride for Dad, which supports prostate cancer research and awareness. Together, the group has raised close to $200,000 for charity.
“Our family has been touched by cancer,” Preston said. “I lost my father to the disease many years ago.”
Preston, who has already reached more than half his fundraising goal, said three people close to him have had prostate cancer in recent years, so the charity is close to his heart.
Since he pledged to go on the trip, he said, he has felt empowered by the decision.
“Three months ago, I never believed I would do this, but now I’m feeling so upbeat, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “I’m already thinking of my next trip afterwards, because I don’t want to have a letdown when I come back.”
Preston was cool to the idea when it was first proposed by his nephew Kevin Preston, with whom he has gone on many hikes in eastern North America.
“For me this wasn’t really necessary,” he said.
“I thought it would be too big, too adventurous, too expensive, but he kept pushing me. I really didn’t want anything to do with it. It was my brother who put it in my face, and said, ‘You’re not getting any younger.’ ”
Preston was awed by the mountain a few years ago during a business trip to the region, but never believed he would climb it.
“I was quite inspired when I first saw the mountain,” he recalled. “I can still see it in my head now. It’s really something.”
To prepare for the trip, Preston has been working out in a gym over the past few months and doing a few local hikes. He said he doesn’t expect to have trouble dealing with the altitude of Kilimanjaro, as the group is going to spend a full day without climbing to acclimatize.
“And when we really get high, we won’t be walking any faster than one foot per second,” he added.
Preston said he plans to carry a picture of his dad with him on his trip.