Inspired by the PCRF’s mission, the team of climbers will begin their ascent to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro on Feb. 18 and anticipate an eight-day trek to reach the top.

The group’s members come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds. They include finance-related professionals, students and entrepreneurs from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. However, a concern for injured and sick Arab children is the common thread that binds them all.

Fouad Dajani, a Riyadh-based banker and one of the eight climbers, said: “We felt that we needed to do something to support this great cause. All children deserve good medical care, especially those who have been injured by conflict or whose guardians cannot afford to provide them with the necessary care.”

The team will be covering all the costs associated with its climb, but is currently undertaking a campaign to raise $500,000 from corporate and individual sponsors for PCRF.

“Since its inception, over 800 children have been or are currently being treated outside the Middle East through the PCRF. We think this is a great achievement and we hope to add to PCRF’s success by raising more funds for it through our climb,” said Reem Shaath, another climber and entrepreneur based in Riyadh.

Samer Sarraf, a Dubai-based climber, added: “We are encouraged by the initial response from donors and appeal to other corporations and individuals to contribute to this humanitarian cause.”

So far, 11 companies have stepped forward as sponsors, including Arab Palestinian Investment Co. and Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), Hertz Saudi Arabia, Bayt.com, and Just Falafel, among others. To date, almost $200,000 has been raised to date.

The PCRF is a non-political, non-profit organization established in 1991 and registered in the US to address the medical and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian children in the Middle East.

The PCRF helps to locate free medical care for children from the Middle East who are unable to get the necessary and specialized treatment in their homeland. To this end, it runs volunteer medical missions to the Middle East and locates free medical care in the US and Europe for cases that cannot be treated within the region.