Father Joe Coffey has a unique relationship to Mt. Kilimanjaro. He was a participant in the pilot trip for Climb for Sight in 2000. They set the precedent; they were an 18 person coalition to reach the peak with the mission of providing sight-saving surgeries to indigent children. And as if one time wasn't enough, he did it again, several years later. But Fr. Joe did not make it to the top of “Kili” the second time around. I had the chance to talk with him about his trips, and he expressed in an honest and emotion-filled tone how his two ascents differed, and he offers some valuable advice to future climbers that might save them from making some of the same mistakes he did.

Brad Hart (who is nearly blind from retinitis pigments), with his brother Brian Hart and childhood friend, Kirk Parry, helped raise $40,000 by participating Climb for Sight trip. Read about his experience in this article written by Janice Crompton for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.