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72-year-old P.E.I. potato farmer to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity

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A Prince Edward Island potato farmer is about to make the trek of a lifetime, to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

The 72-year-old’s bucket-list climb will support another passion project.

Barry Cudmore has been a farmer his whole life, working on his family farm, but he’s also been doing something a little bit more. For over 40 years, he’s been raising money to help people living in eastern Africa.

Cudmore is one of the original founders of Farmers Helping Farmers. The group supports farmers in Kenya with tools and techniques for better farming, as well as providing 3,000 meals a day for children in the country.

Farmers Helping Farmers has helped an estimated 100,000 people living in Kenya since it first started fundraising in 1980.

Cudmore usually hosts a summer barbecue to raise money, but COVID-19 threw a wrench in the works.

“And I thought, well if we’re a little bit short on those funds, maybe this is something that will draw people in,” said Cudmore. "They can follow my trek, and also be with me in a way, and making contributions towards our projects.”

At over 19,000 feet, Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa and one of the only mountains of that height in the world you can summit without specialized climbing equipment.

“Some people I say I’m rather crazy to do this,” said Cudmore. “Some say I should be retired and not even farming, so I say, ‘Retire and do what?’ So, I might as well try and get to the top of Kilimanjaro.”

This isn’t the first serious climb the 72-year-old has taken. He trekked to the Mount Everest base camp in 2019, a well as peaks in Poland, Maine, and Alaska.

“Right now I just want to get at it and get it done, and let my life go back to some level normalcy,” said Cudmore. “All my waking hours, and most of my sleeping hours, it’s there and it won’t go away until we get it done.”

Cudmore has already raised around $2,000 for the cause. His goal is $19,341 -- $1 for each foot of the mountain's towering height.

Donations towards Cudmore's cause can be made online.

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