Northfield climbers thanked for hardship
The Northfield Methodist Church climbers raised more than R52 000 for the church’s missions during their adventure, in which they set out to climb nine of the highest peaks in South Africa.
The church organised a dinner at Benoni Country Club on July 3, to thank the climbers and sponsors for the initiative.
The event included dinner, a raffle draw, Lee den Hond as guest speaker and various other speakers who thanked the climbers and sponsors.
The guest speaker, Den Hond, is the third South African woman to have climbed Mount Everest, which she tackled in 2013.
She had climbed only one mountain before that, Mount Kilimanjaro, 12 years earlier.
Den Hond opened the evening with the story of her journey of preparing for and enduring the climb.
In conjunction with her climb, Den Hond raised money to build a care centre for orphans in the poor Schaumburg community.
Den Hond’s story was the perfect introduction to an evening dedicated to the Northfield climbers.
On May 18, Morehill resident Burns Maclear (68) and Rynfield resident Koos Bouwer (66), the last remaining Northfield climbers, summitted the last and highest peak, Mafadi, in KwaZulu-Natal.
In October, last year, the team of climbers, including Maclear, Bouwer, Dave Inggs, Trevor Long, Fred Ashton and Rob Beardsley set out to summit nine mountains in South Africa, each being the highest in one of the provinces.
Four of the team members fell out for various reasons, including work and health.
The climbers had asked the public to donate a minimum of one cent for every metre climbed.
The nine peaks amounted to 22 401m and more than R52 000 was raised.
At the dinner, Burns thanked the congregation, donors and climbers for their input in the initiative, but said it wouldn’t have been possible without God.
You might also be interested in:
Mountaineers complete the nine peaks
