WASHINGTON — Last month, CUNA Chief Economist Bill Hampel fulfilled a childhood dream and helped raise more than $100,000 for various charities.

In September, Hampel, who grew up in South Africa, made the trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. "It exceeded expectations. It was harder than anything–that last day was–I had ever thought of anticipating but the whole experience was very rewarding," Hampel said. This from an avid biker who has even taken a day trip on his mountain bike up the side of Mount Haleakala in Hawaii for fun. The Kilimanjaro climb was five-and-a-half days up to the 19,000-foot summit and one-and-a-half days down.

Hampel, his wife Diane, and a handful of other credit union-related people, including National Credit Union Foundation REAL Solutions National Program Director Lois Kitsch, climbed the legendary mountain in September to benefit five different charities: Operation Smile, Oxfam, Fabric of Life, the National Credit Union Foundation, and LAROI Primary School near the base camp. Each of the group of nine committed to raising at least $2,000 plus an additional 30 corporate sponsors signed on. CUNA Mutual Group, Orange County Teachers FCU, the Corporate Network, Southwest Corporate, Bellco CU (Colo.), Suncoast Schools CU (Fla.), America First FCU (Utah), and BECU (Wash.) each contributed at least $5,000.