Climbers Continued

So next on the list we have Amy Kaplan...spitfire this one. She has raised the most money thus far! When Amy gets something in her head she is determined...this will serve her well on Kili. She works for Capitol Records so she is taking the word of GAA into another arena! Amy is a mom of two beautiful kids who will be cheering her on from home with their dad Eric.
Then there is Tara Goff Kamradt, I always want her on MY side. Tara is a partner in a major law firm in Chicago. Her manner exudes strength and determination...she too will be served well by this on Kili. Tara and I share the role of happy single mom's....she is mother to Harrison who is the same age as Pearl. I appreciate a knowing glance from Tara at school...in the years we have known each other. Tara is bringing two important people with her...first her sister in law Leslie Goff who I have yet to meet. Tara tells us she is amazing woman and mother. She has three young children and one with special needs. She has focused very hard as a mom and career woamn and is finally taking some time for herself. ( notice in doing so she is fundraising fo other kids!). I look forward to meeting Leslie and I'll tell you more about her when i do! Tara is also joined by Kay Raso. Kay is also an accomplished athlete and a lover of Pilates. She recently moved to Colorado so she has been lucky enough to do some training at altitude. Kay rode in a super long bike race this summer ( I can't remeber the distance) it was over a several day span and covered a lot of feet up and down. Kay is leaving her Buff husband at home.
So I will finish the line up tomorrow...off to finish the details of our trip!!!! Starting to finally feel real!!!!
Love to you all.
Sarah

Fundraising-o-rama

So as a reminder let me tell you that my job here is to plan and execute fundraising trips that support the various programs of Global Alliance for Africa, a non-for-profit located in Chicago. We are now working on a trip from Georgetown University, Loyola University, a bike trip, and yoga trip and an Art Camp. Those 5 trips will be coming before July....thus far this year we have had an Art trip and a Kili climb with another arriving in less than two weeks. We have a lot of momentum going...our goal was 6 trips this year...and we will easily surpass that. This trip coming in February is by far the biggest fundraisng group of the year. Shawna and I have both been working with this group since early last year. It is a wonderful mix of highly accomplished people with a drive to both help GAA and climb to the roof of Africa. I want to give you a bit of background on the group because this blog will be the home of their journey. We plan to document their ascent (and descent) up Kili. and give descriptions of their journey. You can log in here to see how they are doing and where they are on the mountain. So I am going to introduce each of them over the next few blogs to give their journey a more personal feel.
First there is Shawna, Shawna is my great great friend and a wonderful supporter of Global Alliance. This will be her 3rd attempt on Kili...she was successful in her first two tries. She does triathlons, skis, bikes....and I would say is generally happiest when outdoors. She is a leader on this trip. Both Shawna's sister Nicole and her father Jim will be joining us this year. I already feel emotional at the thought of the three of them doing this together. Kili brings out a lot of different emotions in people and for them to share this wih each other will be very powerful...Jim has been trainig really hard and has set the bar high for the rest of us. Rumors of his efforts have already come to Africa....ankle weights, heavy backpacks...he's gunning for this mountain!!! Nicole is an accomplished althlete and a natural runner. She is leaving behind her husband and beautiful daughter to join us. As I've told her and the other parents on the trip...the effect their climb will have on their own children is as powerful as the effect it will have on the kids here.
I'll finish my focus on our line up in my next blog so stay tuned....there will be 15 of us doing the climb beginning on the 11th of February....this group leaves Chicago on the 8th and will spend a day getting ready and visitng the programs of GAA...for a littel pre-climb motivation.
My mom comes this Sat....she willbe staying wth my kids while a travel with this group...this is about the 10th trip she has taken this year. She's been in Indonesia, Brazil, and many other foreign locales...so i think she'll easily adapt to our life here....we can't wait to see her!!! Yeah Gamma!!!
More soon!!!!
Sarah