Theo Mitchell explains his motivation for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and expresses gratitude towards all supporters.

It all started with a conversation over dinner. Four friends patiently waiting for their meals and discussing potential fundraising ideas for WhizzKids United. During our brainstorming session, Lauren jokingly blurted out about how cool it would be if we could climb Mt. Kilimanjaro as a fundraising event. As we all laughed at the thought of scaling the highest mountain in Africa for charity, the idea resonated inside me and I just couldn't let it go. Nearly two and half months removed from that dinner conversation, I am truly proud to say that I will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in four days on behalf of the WhizzKids United Health Academy. 

In the last month, I have prepared for the mountain by exercising consistently in order to build up my strength and stamina. My workout regimen has consisted of going to the gym early in the morning and alternating my focus each visit between upper body and lower body exercises. With my goal in sight to reach Kilimanjaro's summit, my morning workouts quickly transformed into tough two-a-day sessions (going to the gym before and after work). To further spice up my workouts, I also began to play full-court basketball regularly again and added yoga sessions into the mix. Let's not also forget to mention my refusal to get burgers and milkshakes from Steers during my training - probably the hardest part of my training.

But, beside the physical labor in the gym, the outpouring of love and support I received from family and friends worldwide has been tremendous. When I started this project, I established a small target fundraising goal of $1000USD for our youth health clinic. However, the positive response of the project was so overwhelming that I was able to exceed that amount for the Health Academy in a matter of two weeks. At the present moment, I have raised over $1250USD with the gracious help of my family, friends, colleagues and supporters. All of the money donated for this effort will be used to help feed the children that utilize the Health Academy.

I cannot stress enough how appreciative and humble I am of everyone who contributed to this great project. So many people have helped me along the way to get to this point and endorse this cause. Whether it was a donation, using your own social media page to share the news, keeping me motivated or giving gifts for our kids, I sincerely thank each and everyone of you for helping me to conquer Kilimanjaro for WhizzKids United. If you would like to support this cause, then please check out my Givengain page (US) or my Just Giving page (UK/Int'l). But, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for your kindness in this project.

I'll see you at the top...