On June 11, 2017, I will attempt to climb Denali (Mt. McKinley), the highest peak in North America (20,310 ft).  It will be my 4th of the Seven Summits (the seven highest mountains of the world's seven continents) and has been a dream of mine for quite some time.  I have trained vigorously for this mountain for over 2 years now and the time and effort that I have dedicated to this will be even more meaningful if I can contribute to something that I am extremely passionate about and help to make the world just a little bit better while doing something that I love.  

Two years ago, my best friend Jenny and I visited The Elephant Orphanage Project at the Lilayi Elephant Nursery in Zambia. It offers sanctuary for defenseless, abandoned elephant calves who are often tragic victims of poaching and human conflict.  Young elephants are incredibly vulnerable and dependent and many do not survive without around-the-clock care and need special milk formula every 3 hours.  Lilayi has highly trained Keepers who care for these babies 24/7, even sleeping with them at night in their stables to help the elephants learn to overcome the tragic loss of their mothers.  Once the elephant calves have been weaned off of the milk, they are then moved to a national park with other older elephants, which then maximizes the opportunity for the orphans to be reintegrated with fellow elephants back in the wild.  This whole process can be very costly and the orphanage is completely donor funded and relies solely on the generosity of other people and organizations who are dedicated to helping wildlife.  

I fell in love with this place the moment I stepped foot into it.  It is a  small organization that is run by an even smaller amount of extremely kind and selfless individuals.  I am raising funds for this organization in memory of my dog Bart and dedicating my climb to these beautiful creatures, with whom I have a deep love for.  The amount of suffering that I will experience on the mountain will be pale in comparison to what they have to endure on a daily basis and just that thought alone will give me strong motivation to get to the top.  

Any amount of donation, big or small, is appreciated beyond words by myself, the organization, and of course... the elephants. Like an elephant...I never forget.  

Thank you, 

Gina xx