Even after spending years serving in Bolivia through the United States Peace Corp and being named one of the top 100 Extraordinary Women, Elizabeth Gore of Friendswood, Texas still values her hometown.
Posted by: greg in MyBlog on Jan 13, 2010
Even after spending years serving in Bolivia through the United States Peace Corp and being named one of the top 100 Extraordinary Women, Elizabeth Gore of Friendswood, Texas still values her hometown.
“In Friendswood, I have the best friends in the world still, even though I’ve been running around the globe with the U.N.,” Gore said. “The best place in the world is to go home to Friendswood to see all my best friends. What a special place to be from. So, I’m very proud to have grown up in such a great community.”
Representing Friendswood, Gore started her “Summit on the Summit” challenge on January 7 to raise money for the global clean water crisis. She will climb 19,340 feet to the top of Mount Kilimnjaro, with each square foot available to be sponsored through www.summitonthesummit.com.
“Our goal is raise funds,” Gore said. “Even the smallest contribution will provide families with clean water. I am asking Friendswood residents to log on to our website and make a donation. Even $5 or $10 makes a huge difference.”
Young local, Blake Sartain, demonstrated this by donating his allowance to the cause, sponsoring a foot for the climb.
After training for almost a year, Gore is enthusiastic about the climb but also nervous.
“I think the thing I’m most nervous about, being from the hottest flattest part of the country, Texas, is that we’re going up above 19,000 feet and it’s going to be below zero. So, it’s going to be very cold and very high. I’m nervous; but also honored to be able to do this.”
In addition to raising funds, Gore said she hopes to raise consciousness about the issue and promote water conservation.
Proceeds from the Summit on the Summit climb are donated to three clean water organizations:
Children’s Safe Drinking Water (www.csdw.org), UNHCR (www.unhcr.org), and Playpumps International (www.playpumps.org).