50th birthday climb to help kids

COUNCIL BLUFFS — John MacKenzie will mark his 50th birthday in 2010 by climbing for a cause.

It won’t be just any climb. He plans to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world.

And he hopes the effort draws lots of attention — and dollars — to the Court Appointed Special Advocate programs in Pottawattamie, Douglas and Sarpy Counties.

“That seems like a good way to celebrate 50 years — to climb a mountain and help kids,” MacKenzie said.

MacKenzie, an Omahan who manages Islamorada Fish Co. in Council Bluffs, plans to make the climb in February, though a date has not been set.

Anne Christensen, coordinator of the Pottawattamie County CASA program, appreciates MacKenzie’s enthusiasm and desire to help the program.

“It was really great to have somebody come to us and say they wanted to do something for us,” she said.

CASA volunteers provide a voice for children in the child welfare system. For children who experience changes in judges, child welfare workers, providers and foster parents, a CASA volunteer can be one of the few constants in their lives, Christensen said.

MacKenzie’s plan to climb to the 19,336-foot peak in Tanzania grew out of a conversation in which a friend asked what he wanted to do for his 50th birthday.

MacKenzie replied offhandedly that he wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. After doing some research, he decided the snowy summit was not out of reach.

MacKenzie learned about CASA while talking to the manager of an Islamorada restaurant in Denver that had done a fundraiser for the organization.

“I had never heard of it,” he said. “The more I heard, the more I liked it. They’re just doing a really, really nice job of helping kids who can’t help themselves.”

He talked to Christensen and CASA coordinators in Douglas and Sarpy Counties and decided to make the climb a fundraiser.

Proceeds will be divided among CASA programs in the three counties.

A one-hour documentary is being made about the adventure. And CASA will have the opportunity to use the film to raise public awareness about its program.

“It just kind of all meshed together,” McKenzie said. “Now we’re just trying to go out and raise money for it.”

MacKenzie will turn 50 on Jan. 19. He has climbed some of the highest mountains in the contiguous United States but nothing as high as Kilimanjaro.

“It’s another mile higher than I’ve ever been,” he said.

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