Maggie Cobler passed away from a thirteen day battle with cancer on December 26, 2004. She was only 58 years old and a tremendous woman. You may have known her as a seamstress, an auxiliary member, a gardener, a clarinet player, a churchgoer, a teacher, a sister, a wife or a friend. I call her Mom.

At 19,388 feet, Vulcan Cotopaxi stands as one of the world's highest active volcanoes and Ecuador's second highest peak. On January 4, 2008, I'll begin a 10-day trek in Mom's memory, and as part of Pittsburgh's Climb For Hope team as we attempt to summit Cotopaxi and raise money for cutting-edge Breast Cancer vaccine research being conducted by Dr. Leisha Emens at Johns Hopkins University.

Last year, the Climb For Hope team raised over $150,000 for this research and helped to speed Dr. Emen’s work in bringing this important vaccine to market by 6 months.

As part of my personal goal for this climb, I'm hoping to raise a minimum of $5,000 so that this research can continue to have a beneficial impact on the lives of women who face the daily struggles of late-stage breast cancer.

I hope that you'll join in this effort and support me and the Climb For Hope team as we set out on this journey to push ourselves higher than we've ever traveled before.

For more information about our climbing itinerary and the vaccine research we're working to support, please visit the links at Climb For Hope.

And to take a closer look at the summit we're attempting to reach, visit Cotopaxi.

Upgois Sahibe

P.S. If you would rather send a check than make your 100% tax deductible donation through the VeriSign Secured online link at the top of this page, please make it out to:

Climb For Hope