Student Climbs CN Tower for Tigers and WWF
Mikayla Flikkema after climbing the stairs to the CN Tower
Maria Flikkema
With her commitment to saving tigers in mind, Mikayla Flikkema recently joined more than 8,500 people to climb the 1,776 steps of Canada’s CN Tower in Toronto.
Before the climb, Mikayla had raised nearly $2,500 to support World Wildlife Fund Canada, which works to address environmental challenges in ecologically fragile places and to protect wildlife.
Along with her mother, Maria, Mikayla climbed the 144 stories in 24 minutes. They were out of breath but pleased to have accomplished the climb.
“I did it because I love animals—- and especially tigers,” said Mikayla, a seventh grader at Laurentian Christian School in Kitchener, Ont.
“I get really sad when I see animals in pain and saw that this could be a way for me to help them in some way.”
Maria Flikkema said her daughter’s love for animals is a lifelong thing. She especially loves her two cats, which likely led to her caring for the bigger cat with stripes.
Mikayla even makes sure that spiders they find in the house are captured and released outside. The family, however, draws the line at mosquitoes.
Her interest in tigers goes back a couple years to when she saw Two Brothers, a movie about two tiger cubs who get separated when their father is killed by a big game hunter. One cub is captured and put in a circus, while the other finds a home but is then left behind. Eventually they reunite.
A theme of the movie is the extinction of tigers.
“Tigers are really beautiful, and they are part of the chain of life,” said Mikayla. “I wondered what I could do to save the tigers, and my mom told me about the walk.”
WWF Canada raised $1.44 million from the event, the most raised in its 28-year history.
The Flikkemas are members of Community Christian Reformed Church in Kitchener. Maria Flikkema said they are aware of the CRC’s efforts in creation care and that she is proud of her daughter’s willingness, in her own small way, to contribute to the cause.
“Right now we are doing a topic in school on sustaining the environment, and I enjoy it and want to learn more,” said Mikayla.
Mikayla and another climber were interviewed on Canadian TV about the event as well. Watch the interview here.
