Everybody, this is Justin Recla. Your host of Incorporating SuperPowers. My guest today has real world superpowers, folks. At 89 years of age she set a world record for the oldest person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. She not only did it with just … matter of fact, from what I know she did it with broken ribs along the way. Because she’s got quite the story, she actually at 89 climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, had two broken ribs. And she did it all for a very, very exciting cause to empower Underserved Kids. My guest today is Anne Lorimor, the world record holder for the oldest person who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Anne, welcome to the show.
Well, thank you very much. Thank you.
Welcome. This is super exciting. You have an organization that you’ve been working diligently on for quite some time. It’s an organization called Creating Exciting Futures. I know this is … when you gave your setting climb, it was to support your organization that promotes opportunities for Underserved Kids. Can you tell us a little bit more about Creating Exciting Futures?
I’d love to. My idea is that a lot of kids from low income families don’t get the kind of opportunities that kids normally do. Underserved Kids don’t know what’s available. Some of them feel stuck without ever knowing their options. What we want to do is show them their options, and give them the tools to live the kind of lives they love and reach their full potential. Then stress giving back.
Yeah, this is such an exciting project. We met … I don’t know, it was probably seven, eight years ago at CEO Space. One of the just phenomenal opportunities that CEO Space offers is a teen program. Can you share with us what you do with the teens in the program? And what that all entails for them?
What I do is offer scholarships for kids to go to this teen feast program. It’s a wonderful program. It gives them the chance to learn about networking and about brainstorming. They get lifetime membership in the parent organization. It can only be done through a member. So, I offer something that some other charitable organizations don’t offer.
What I give them is their lodging, and their transportation, meals with faculty there. Then of course, the lifetime membership. If you’ll look on my website, creatingexcitingfutures.org, you’ll see wonderful testimonials from them, what they got from it. I’m just so pleased with the things that have happened.
Yeah, speaking from experience folks, we raised our daughter at CEO Space in that environment. A lot of you that watch our shows, watch the network and watching Neva’s career evolve. You often wonder how does she get the prowess for business and entrepreneurship. That was because of the teen at CEO Space. She has always been a teen. She’s just now tweener.
But by being there with the teens, engaging with them during meal tables, even when she was young. Is something that was remarkable, it’s really shaped her up. I think it’s super important name and that what you’re doing in the work that you’re bringing in. Especially to underprivileged kids. Giving them something that they may not normally see or presenting them, “Hey, you have an idea. You can be your own boss; you can be a business owner.”
How much importance does breaking out of that mindset … how much struggle do you see with the kids? Are they resistant to it or do they accept it with grace?
The ones that I’ve had were recommended by people in the community who worked with that kind of child. They really are accepting. I’m just amazed at how much they accept. People. We’re very proud of them, the last group I took. Because they just got right into it and played full out, as they say. As I said, I particularly like to deal with foster homeless and orphan children. Because I think they have special challenges. I want them to have the same opportunity as other kids.
Yeah, that’s such a looked over aspect when talking to kids. A lot of times you see organizations that are focused on making sure they get the right meal or stay in school and whatnot. I love what you do is that you’re adding a whole new aspect that because of circumstances, they may never have gotten introduced to. This is super, super exciting stuff. Tell me how many people are you taking … you said six, right? You’re taking six.
I’d like to take six in July.
This is fantastic. Talk to me a little bit more about how the program works. How are kids able to come into the program and how does the organization raised funds to bring them in?
They volunteer with family promise. They are a transitional homeless project. People are going along and maybe one loses their job or there’s a catastrophic illness and suddenly they’re out in the street. This program houses them in various churches, a week at a time for awhile. It gives them a telephone number, and access to a computer, and an email so they can get a job. It’s a lot easier than saying, “Hey, I’m living out under the third tree at the edge of town.” So it helps a lot. There’s about an 85% success rate there.
Well several of the kids that I’ve given scholarships to came from the year long after program. I really had close connections with the gal that had did that program. She could see the value and she’d recommended them and they did very, very well, indeed. I’m just going to have to reset all the connections because she moved on and I met one and then she moved on. It was hard work.
Millet House in Mesa offers an artist venue for people that are talented but don’t have the money to display their art. She also offers a lending library for the whole community. So she’s recommended several kids that have gone. This July, I’m supposed to have a Yaqui medicine man. I’m really excited about that because I do like diversity. In the last group I took there was a Hispanic, and a Polish American, and a couple of black Americans, and … oh one other thing, also different, whatever. So, all of them had brought something to it that was different.
I know that’s what I’m saying, I’ve been to a couple of your meetings and seeing the interaction with the kids. The diversity is huge, the amount of opportunity that you’re creating across the board is super, super important. This is all great stuff. I want to dive into this a little bit more. I want to learn more about your walk. And how you, at 89 years old, set a world record. Where can our listeners go find you before we start diving into the walk to support Underserved Kids?
If they go to creatingexcitingfutures.org. It tells about the climb, it tells about the cause and there are testimonials from some of the kids.
Oh, this is super fantastic. Folks, go check it out. Stay tuned. When we get back, we’re going to dive more into the backstory behind the broken ribs. And learn more about what the walk raised and what it did for their organization to empower Underserved Kids. Stay tuned.
Â
To listen to the entire show click on the player above or go to the SuperPower Up! podcast on iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window
