Taking Literacy to New Heights

We’re always amazed by the creative (and yes, sometimes extreme) fundraising campaigns that Room to Read supporters come up with. Take, for example, our friend Rob Hart…

Rob has been climbing some of the world’s tallest peaks at the rate of one per year since 2003. The South African native (now based in Singapore) says he understands that, “the attraction of frozen digits, howling winds, and inedible food eludes many,” but none of those things were going to stop him from summiting the world’s tallest peak, Mount Everest, this year. And what’s more, he decided to turn his personal quest into a fundraiser for Room to Read, and carried a flag with our logo on it all the way to the top. 

Hart says he chose Room to Read as the beneficiary of his efforts based on our record of efficiency—having grown up in Africa, he says, “I’ve seen the amount of money wasted by NGO’s on Land Rovers and the like across the continent, it was heartening to find a charity that doesn’t waste money.” He chose to designate the funds raised to projects in Nepal, where he would be climbing, and South Africa, the country of his birth.

Hart reached the summit of Everest on March 14, and hot on his heels is another group of Room to Read supporters—13 work colleagues from Penguin Group in the UK. For some, the Everest Base Camp Trek will be their first major climbing adventure, like Helen Atkinson, who describes herself as “a fair-weather walker that’s never been at any kind of altitude.” She and the rest of her group will commence their journey on October 22, and will finish with a visit to Room to Read's projects in Nepal. We wish them the best of luck!

Feeling inspired? You don't have to be a mountain-climber to start your very own fundraising campaign for Room to Read.

Photo credit: Rob Hart atop Mount Everest (courtesy of subject).

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[sauna esofman]

Room to Read supporters come up with. Take, for example, our friend Rob Hart…