Looking west, the Toronto skyline as seen from the fifteenth floor at 351 King St. East. A group of employees at PwC Management Services in Toronto have pledged to raise $5,000 for WWF-Canada at next month’s annual CN Tower climb.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The donors A group of employees at PwC Management Services in Toronto
The gift: Raising $5,000
The cause: WWF-Canada
When a group of 20 employees in the audit practice of PwC in Toronto decided to climb the CN Tower to raise money for WWF-Canada, they asked the firm's executives to join in.
The executives agreed and the event has now become something of an officewide effort. Teams have been preparing for next month's annual climb by hiking up 26 flights of stairs at PwC's office in Toronto. The group has set a target of raising $5,000 for WWF, and so far half the money has been raised.
"I've actually started to walk up the stairs three times a week, 16 floors to my office, to try and train," said James Temple, PwC's chief corporate responsibility officer, who is part of the team. Mr. Temple acknowledged surmounting the tower won't be easy – it typically takes about half an hour to climb the 1,776 stairs to the top.
This will be the 27th year for the WWF CN Tower Climb for Nature, which will be held April 8-9. The event raises more than $1-million annually for the charity.
"Our hope is that this is just the beginning of something significant with the WWF," Mr. Temple said.
Paul Waldie