Lawyer Christopher Bredt, a ‘passionate believer in the power of education,’ is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for the third time to raise money for CODE, the Canadian Organization for Development through Education.
The donor: Christopher Bredt
The gift: Helping to raise $1.2-million and climbing
The cause: Canadian Organization for Development through Education
The reason: To promote reading programs in Africa
Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro has become a popular trek for climbers of all abilities, but not many people have scaled it three times. Toronto lawyer Christopher Bredt is about to become one of the few.
Mr. Bredt, a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais, is joining a team of 14 people who are climbing the mountain this month to raise money for the Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE).
The group expects to raise about $187,000 for CODE, which will be matched three to one by the federal government.
He has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2006 and 2010 to raise money for the organization, which runs a variety of literacy and education programs in Africa.
"I'm a very passionate believer in the power of education as a tool for development," Mr. Bredt said in an interview shortly before his departure in June. He has been involved with CODE since 1996, and is a past chairman of the charity.
During one of his last trips to the mountain, he visited some of CODE's programs in Tanzania.
"I got to see the kids and how eager they are to learn," he said. "You really felt like you were making a huge difference."
Paul Waldie