Layout Image

Erika Erlenbach – North Mecklenburg and Kaitlyn Sisson

You’re doing WHAT now?

That is the most common response Kait and I hear when we say we are climbing Kili…you’re doing what?!?

Our journey started about four years ago.  Two of my fellow North Meck Rotary club Rotarians and I heard about a recent Rotary Kilimanjaro climb and thought – that would be cool…someday!  Time passed, as it does, and about two years later, we heard about another Rotary Kili climb…and thought – we need to do that!  Well, knowing my friend Kaitlyn was always up for adventure and a challenge, I reached out…and she was IN!  But then life happened…and we had to push off thinking about the climb for the time being.

We believe things happen for a reason, and so, when Mike Walker (District 7680 Kili Climb Chair and Coordinator) sent out an email that THIS year there would be a full eclipse over Tanzania while Rotary climbers would be there – we knew we had to make it happen this year!  And we wanted to do it with Rotary – we want our climb to make a difference in someone’s life – and with your help, it will!  So, this July 2018, Rotary District 7680 will organize the sixth group of Rotarians and friends from the United States to summit the Peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro with the purpose of the climb being to raise money for the final push to eliminate Polio worldwide through Rotary International’s END POLIO NOW campaign.

It’s an amazing thing being able to wake up every morning, hop out of bed, walk around, stretch, take a hike, and even just go about our daily business…and yet, we so regularly take it for granted.  Those afflicted by polio don’t generally have those abilities.  Instead they struggle with this crippling disease for life.  Interestingly, as we have been going through the process of immunizations, it reminds us how blessed we are to in live in the United States and to have access to the polio vaccine so easily.  Why shouldn’t everyone have access to the vaccine?  As Rotary International shares, “For as little as $0.60, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life.”

100% of the donations made will go to Rotary International for the END POLIO NOW campaign whose purpose is the eradication of polio in the world.  You will receive a confirmation of your donation directly from The Rotary Foundation. We are so close to eradicating polio in our lifetime – how amazing it would be to hear that we live in a polio-free world, and we helped make it happen!

This is a big deal for us, and Kait and I want to share it with you!  So, with any donation of $250 or more, Kait and I would like to include your name or company logo on our summit flag which will bear the climb, year, our names, and donor logos and will be photographed on Mt. Kilimanjaro – the highest freestanding mountain in the world!  We will share this photo with you for your use and on our own social media pages as well.

Thank you for your generous contribution to the Rotary District 7680 Fund, Inc.!!!

Kaitlyn  &  Erika

The Rotary Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. No goods or services were provided in exchange for your generous financial donation.

Please CLICK HERE to make a contribution with PayPal.