We Are On Our Way Again

For the 7th time, A Piece Of Hope had yet again called for a press conference to kick start this year's Mt. Kinabalu charity climb. It was held on the 25th June 2013 @ Persatuan Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Klang Selangor (PPKKCKS) premises in Port Klang. This time around, we have the privilege of getting a press partner, The Malay Mail. They will be covering our event this year and also be sending a reporter to climb with us to report on first encounters. China Press was the only other newspaper that came for our press conference.

The following is an excerpt from our press release (for the actual published prints, please refer to the right hand side column):

Port Klang, Selangor – In the 7^th year running, a group of avid Mt. Kinabalu climbers who aptly call themselves A PIECE OF HOPE (APOH), will yet again scale one of the highest mountains in South East Asia come July for a charitable and noble purpose. The APOH climbing group totalling 230 climbers this time is the largest climbing contingents to climb up Mt. Kinabalu. Not surprisingly, some of APOH’s hard core group members have climbed up Mt. Kinabalu more than 13 times consecutively.

For the past 6 years of climbing Mt. Kinabalu for charity, APOH has helped to raise more than RM1,000,000 in cash for various children support type NGOs in and around the Klang Valley. Last year, they managed to raise the largest amount to date of RM254,000 for Rumah KIDS. There seem to be no stopping them as this year they are again climbing for charity and this time to benefit an NGO called, Persatuan Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Klang Selangor (PPKKCKS).

Mr Ting Ted Sun the fund raising charity event organiser for APOH says, “When we set the target of RM240,000 for last year’s fund raising effort, we were actually targeting our RM1,000,000 mark. This mark or amount is the total cash collected for the past 6 years of our noble effort. We were quite sceptical at first during the early stages of the donation drive as amount pouring in was little. We know we had to push our boundaries so that we could achieve that sort of elusive figure. Thanks to all effort by the APOH committee members, we not only hit the target but we surpassed it. To date it was by far our most successful effort in all of the 6 years climbing for charity. APOH is truly touched by the generosity of those who gave into APOH and Rumah KIDS. This year as we embark again on raising funds and since reaching the RM1,000,000 mark, we would still set a target but it would be a sure reachable figure of RM200,000.”

Lead climber, Mr Jimmy Lim, indicated that they have 200 climbers this year plus 30 non-climbers and will be making the climb from 27 to 31 July 2013. Climbers will be flying into Kota Kinabalu from all over the country on the 27 July. Mr. Jimmy Lim whom has climbed Mt. Kinabalu for 12 times, said that the climb will be in two stages again like last year, each stage will have 100 climbers. He further adds that the jigsaw puzzle pieces will not be assembled at the summit due to the two stages climb arrangement but will be assembled at Laban Rata. Assembling it at Laban Rata will also be easier as the weather condition at the peak is quite unpredictable.

Mr. Jimmy highlighted that all climbers bear their own expenses and there is no cost incurred in organising this event. APOH committee members also pay the same price. This year the cost had gone up by RM100 but enthusiasm to join us has not died down due to this increase. Not a single cent will be taken out from the donation funds collected. Street donation solicitation, Jimmy stressed, is strictly prohibited. He mentioned that the general public can view their on-going and past efforts from the website www.apieceofhope.blogspot.com. He jovially said that all these effort are done for the sake of charity, along the way they have loads of fun and make many new friends.