Why I Climb for WWF: Hard Work for a Good Cause

Some good things have come of this long, cold winter. Karen Van Oyen started training to climb the CN Tower back in January. Her thinking was if she was going to be stuck inside by the weather, she might as well do something useful. So she committed to raising funds for WWF-Canada’s conservation efforts by participating in the 24th Annual Canada Life CN Tower Climb. To prepare for the event, she climbs the 130 steps in her building’s stairway, and now that the weather is a bit nicer, she takes long walks with a friend. And she does this without something most of us take for granted, our unimpaired vision. Karen experiences vision loss, but she’s always wanted to do the climb anyway. She remembers seeing it televised years ago, and thinking, “I can do these things, too.” And she can. On May 3rd, she’ll climb the equivalent of her building almost 14 times over, all the way up the tower’s 1,776 steps on one of the tallest metal staircases in the world.

view of the CN Tower in Toronto
© James Carpenter

Karen’s goal for the climb is simply to get to the top. She says she’s happy to have a chance to participate and support WWF-Canada. Karen loves all animals and is a proud adopter of a WWF-Canada panda bear and tiger. To raise funds, she is asking friends and family to make contributions through her donations page. With all that she is contributing, she plans on benefitting from her participation in the climb, too: she is expecting a new guide dog soon, and you have to have strong legs to work with a young puppy! We’re wishing her a happy climb!  
We want to know why you are climbing!  Tell us with a tweet using #Climb4WWF plus a link to your fundraising page before April 24th, 2014 and you could win a WWF adoption kit!  
Join WWF for the 24th Annual Canada Life CN Tower Climb on May 1 and 3, 2014. Register. Fundraise. Climb. Protect. Earn your stripes at wwf.ca/cntower. Not in Toronto? You can still support WWF by doing the Climbless Climb!