VISIONARY EXPEDITION: Deb Warren and Jenny Croaker are hosting a movie night in Gunnedah tomorrow in aid of their challenging climb up Mt Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Guide Dogs Australia.
A MOVIE night fundraiser in Gunnedah tomorrow is part of an epic adventure by two Armidale women to climb Mt Kilimanjaro – and raise funds for guide dog training.
The movie night will help Jenny Croaker and Deb Warren, who are preparing to climb Mt Kilimanjaro next month to raise $30,000 to enable more puppies to be trained as guide dogs.
The event starts at 6.15pm, and guests can meet the puppies and enjoy drinks before the movie starts at 7pm. The puppies have been supplied by breeder Belinda Pryor of Lytmyfyr, Gunnedah.
Ms Croaker, an orientation and mobility instructor with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, regularly works in Gunnedah training people with impaired vision in how to use aids like canes and guide dogs to get around safely and independently.
Ms Warren is blind and uses a guide dog called Meg to get around.
“We’re holding this event in Gunnedah to raise awareness of our enormous challenge and encourage the local community to support us,” Ms Croaker said.
The two women have also created an online auction site at www.auction4guidedogs.wordpress.com so people can support their challenge. Ms Croaker is also happy to take bids on her mobile phone, 0429 309 379.
Interested people can bid until midnight on Sunday, November 11, on more than 30 items, including original artworks, music, movie, sporting and historical memorabilia and a unique, 16-carat smoky quartz.
For the two women, the Kilimanjaro trek, from November 25-December 6, is as much a personal challenge as it is an opportunity to give back to Guide Dogs, which relies on the public’s generosity to provide its services free of charge.
Services are tailored to suit people with different levels of vision impairment, including training in how to use guide dogs, canes, electronic travel aids and their remaining vision, to be able to get around safely.
For more information about the Mt Kilimanjaro challenge, go to www.everydayhero.com.au/event/GuideDogsNSWACTKiliTrek2012/community