During July, 2011, Brandon and I had a very special lifetime experience. We climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak, in a fundraising initiative to raise funds to support the development of a much needed Child and Adolescent Mental Health Program for Markham Stouffville Hospital. So many of you were there with us. So many of you supported us financially and with your prayers. Thank you so very much.

Well, we are excited once again. In the spring of 2018, we have an opportunity to trek to Everest’s Base Camp in a fundraising initiative designed to equip one of the new operating rooms at MSH. Government funding does not cover such expenses and we, the community, are required to come up with the necessary funds.

My medical career actually started in the O/R at the then Toronto East General Hospital during my high school years. My summer job was to assist in the O/R as a “scrub technician”. So surgery has always been a part of my practice and medical perspective. The O/R is where broken parts are repaired and many disease processes are corrected. Our eldest son, Daryl, regularly assists in the OR at MSH. He can testify to the significant challenges of necessary surgical resources to meet the growing needs in our rapidly increasing community population. Our eldest daughter is also a surgeon.

The trip will be a magnificent amalgum of vistas, geology, geography, and culture with quite a dose of spirituality. It will be very different from Kili. But first, we will be contributing to the communities there by providing medical services prior to our trek. I will be volunteering time working in a clinic starting April 18th and Brandon will be bringing school supplies and science equipment to a local school in Phaplu before we start our trek.

We have begun training and what a training it is. Hiking, yoga, core strength building and the required mental toughness. Everything is more challenging at altitude. We will not be at as high an altitude as Kili but we will be required to be at significant altitude (>17, 000feet) for quite a bit longer, often exposed to 50% of the oxygen level normally at sea level. Toronto is 300 feet above sea level, by comparison.

This trek has a special significance this year. It is being implemented to commemorate the 65th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s heroic summiting of Everest with Tenzing Norgay in 1953. A special anniversary documentary is to be recorded of this trip. And no less than Sir Edmund’s son, Peter, will be coordinating our adventure, along with his daughter, Amelia.

The opportunity to join this extraordinary climb as ordinary people and to represent you and our community in this vital venture is a privilege that we both cherish. We hope that you will consider sponsoring us in this upcoming venture. We would like to take you with us again. We appreciate your support and your prayers. “And what is as important as knowledge?” asked the mind. “Caring and seeing with the heart.” answered the soul. Please join us and share with your heart and mind in support for this very important cause. Whatever donation you are able to make will be most sincerely appreciated. Thank you, Eileen and Brandon