Emily completed the Pacific Crest Trail in 5 months and 9 days in 2022. This is a long distance hiking trail in the USA that stretches 2,600 miles from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. She is really excited to share that she exceeded her fundraising goal of £5,000 and raised £10,000 thanks to the generous fund matching of her employer Tonkin Products. These funds are directly helping KOTO to equip the trainees with training materials to better strengthen their learning experiences.
KOTO is a not-for-profit social enterprise that empowers at-risk and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam through its holistic hospitality training program. Raising funds for KOTO was extremely important to Emily as she has worked in the hospitality and food industry for nearly 20 years and sees the value and importance of developing the skills of young adults to improve their future.
Hiking the PCT was no easy venture, not everyone that starts hiking at the border will complete the trail. Emily was faced with the desert heat, water scarcity, snow covered mountain passes, altitude sickness, a heavy pack of food and equipment to carry, plagues of biting insects, extreme fatigue and blisters, long days of hiking 30 miles or more a day and of course the physical challenge of consuming enough calories to sustain this adventure. The experience will stay with her forever, together with the friendships she made and the opportunity to raise money for such a worthy cause.
Emily relocated to Vietnam in January 2023 to continue working for Tonkin Products after her sabbatical leave to hike the PCT in 2022. She continues to support KOTO while she is living and working here.
To find out more about KOTO, click here
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