The funds were raised through the Glamping4Charity campaign which saw five employees of insurance company, Discovery climb Mount Kilimanjaro in support of CHOC South Africa.
Team leader, Linda Perlov said when starting the fundraising initiative she may have been a little ambitious as she recalled how she pledged to raise R600 000.
“I think I may have overestimated my sales skills, but I guess R168 562 isn’t a bad number either,” she said jokingly.
Having lost her mother to cancer 15 years ago, Perlov knew she wanted to volunteer and invest her time in raising money in support of those who live with cancer, and in memory of people who have lost their fight to the illness.
“Who would have thought posting a Facebook status update about perhaps climbing Kilimanjaro for CHOC would in fact become a reality,” she said.
Admitting that she didn’t enjoy the climb at all, Perlov said she kept reminding herself of all the children that would benefit from her efforts.
“Climbing the mountain was totally out of my comfort zone. From the first day we were faced with rains and cold winds, which made climbing a lot harder due to the slippery terrain and all the gear we needed to put on,” she said.
“However, my team and I persevered and even when I thought I could give up I just reminded myself why I was doing it.”
Non-profit organisation, Love to do Good helped the Discovery team by providing them with a fundraising platform that allowed the Glamping4Charity campaign to have a wider reach.
Perlov together with colleagues Marcel du Preez and Sam Huysamen, and founder of Love to do Good, Lwazi Ngwenya handed over the cheque to the CHOC House.
Representative of CHOC, Adri Ludick thanked the team for their determination and said the money raised would be put into refurbishing the CHOC House kitchen and extending for more accommodation.
