The Climb4Cord was organized months ago to be a part of The Campaign For All Canadians, which is aimed at raising funds to build an umbilical cord blood bank in Canada, the only G8 country in the world that does not have a public, national umbilical cord blood bank. Because of the discovery in recent years that umbilical cord blood has become a superior resource for stem cells, which can offer life-saving stem cell transplants for patients who have underlying, blood-related diseases, the Canadian Blood Services made raising funds for Canada’s umbilical cord blood bank a special mission.
The campaign For All Canadians is a $12.5M capital campaign which will see matching dollars from the funding provincial and territorial governments and is essential to help patients who are awaiting transplants. The Kilimanjaro Climb4Cord was led by Canadian Blood Services CEO Graham Sher and a group of about 25 other people, including business and medical leaders from Canada, and will help raise money for the Campaign For All Canadians. The final tally for funds raised was $344,587 which was almost $100,000 more than their original goal of $250,000.
Through their life-changing Kilimanjaro climbs, Tusker Trail has led numerous organizations on charity Kilimanjaro climbs. Organizations such as CARE Canada and several chapters of the Make-A-Wish Foundation have embarked on these climbs to the ‘roof of Africa’ with Tusker Trail to raise money for their important causes. To date, Tusker Trail has helped charitable organizations around the world raise over $11M through their charity climbs.
About Canadian Blood Services
Canadian Blood Services is a not-for-profit, charitable organization whose sole mission is to manage the blood and blood products supply for Canadians. For more information about how to support the Canadian Blood Services, visit blood.ca
About Tusker Trail
For more than 37 years, Eddie Frank, Founder of Tusker Trail has been leading Kilimanjaro Climbs for people from around the world. As a world-class adventure travel company, Tusker Trail and their professional guides have garnered a reputation as the foremost adventure travel company leading climbs of Kilimanjaro. Through their impeccable credentials and valuable high altitude first-responder training, Tusker Trail is regularly consulted by the US Army Special Forces about high altitude techniques, safety, and strategies.