This Christmas, Chris Hodgson and his family hope to plant a Providence Healthcare flag in the snows of Kilimanjaro.Hodgson, who is chairperson of the Providence foundation board of directors, along with his wife Pam, sons Brian, 26, and Patrick, 20, and sister-in-law Kathy Rogers, are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on the northeast tip Africa. An inactive volcano, Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest peak at just under 6,000 metres (19,000 feet).
Daughter Jaci can't make the climb due to asthma but she will travel to the base camp to see her family off and join the weary travellers following their return for a vacation on the beaches of Tanzania.
"This is a family trip. We also thought this was a way for us to raise some funds for Providence House. This is the type of care I would have liked my mother to have and she didn't have it," Hodgson told dozens of seniors who turned out Thursday Nov. 5 to hear about the upcoming trip and wish the family well.
"Each step we take will put us one step closer to our goal."
Hodgson is using his family's trek to raise $1 million for the Houses of Providence, a 288-bed long-term care facility which is part of the Providence rehabilitation and long-term care campus at Warden and St. Clair avenues.
He has reached his fundraising goal, with half being donated by Scotiabank, where Hodgson is group head of Canadian banking.
The family will leave Toronto on Dec. 19.
On Dec. 23, they will drive to their base camp. For the following five days, the family will trek up the mountain.
On their final day, they will be awakened at midnight to make the final seven- to eight-hour climb to the summit. That is because the weather is generally better in the wee hours of the morning but the timing also allows the travellers to reach the peak at sunrise.
Twenty-four porters carrying supplies and two guides will accompany the family as they make their ascent.
Because it is summer in Africa, the family will begin their trek in light clothing. As they climb higher, temperatures will plummet.
"When we start, we will be in shorts. When we finish, it will be about 20 below. But my wife and I are from Winnipeg so that is a walk in the park," Hodgson laughingly told the crowd packed into the Houses of Providence's great room.
The family has been training for the climb so it's not the physical demands of the journey they fear, Hodgson said.
Instead, it is the effects high altitudes could take that have the family unnerved, he said.
Symptoms can include dizziness, headache, nausea, prolonged shortness of breath, prolonged fatigue, vomiting, exhaustion and in extreme cases, agitation, anxiety, mental confusion, lack of coordination or imbalance.
Once the family reaches the summit, Hodgson promised to raise the Providence flag, signed by the residents of the long-term care centre.
They will return to the base of the mountain on Dec. 29 before heading off on their four-day vacation.