NIKE VOLUNTEERING REACHES NEW HEIGHTS
NIKE EMPLOYEE LENDS A HAND ON MT. EVEREST
Nike employees participate in volunteer programs all over the world, but Nike China’s IT & Business Consultant, Reinhardt Yang, took his volunteering to new heights, literally. Reinhardt recently took the time to tell Innovate about his unique experience with bettering the world, from the top of the world.
“As an outdoor lover, I have always admired the climber, Sir Edmund Hillary, but what impressed me most was not his successful Everest expedition but his sincere investment in charity projects. He occupied himself with environmental causes and humanitarian work.
In January I happened to hear of a volunteer activity, the “Mt. Everest Action at the Third Pole of the Earth” program. I was immediately attracted because the annual program aims to protect the environment of Mt. Everest and search for sustainable energy resources for the mountain communities. The “Mt. Everest Action at the Third Pole of the Earth” started as a yearly volunteer program in 2004 and by 2005, some of the volunteers were climbing the highest peaks in order to collect and clean the rubbish!
While I’m no Sir Edmund Hilary, I decided to apply for this volunteer activity. After three rounds of competition between thousands of candidates and four months of selection, I was chosen to be part of the program’s 20 member volunteer team.
On May 15th, our group started the journey to Everest where we climbed to the highest school in the world, Basong School located in Dingri County Tibet, at an altitude of about 4500m. To help the nearly 250 students and faculty, our volunteer group spent two weeks working toward successfully fulfilling three major tasks:
Research a sustainable energy resource solution for the Mt. Everest communities
- Set up a wireless network training room for the Tibetan Kids and build a dinning room for the students and teachers.
I’m still amazed that I had the opportunity to participate in a program that is striving to make tangible differences for the communities on Everest!”
For more information about the program and ways to volunteer please contact Angela Xi Zixuan.