BETHLEHEM, Pa. — When Dylan Stroup first saw Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain didn’t look quite as imposing as he expected.

“On the first day you see Kilimanjaro and it looks very manageable and it doesn’t seem that big,” Stroup said in a video recorded during his climb.

That perspective would change over more than a week as the Bethlehem man made his way toward Kilimanjaro’s 19,341-foot summit. The trek included snow, a 16-hour stretch on foot and a middle-of-the-night push to reach the summit at sunrise.

When Stroup finally reached the top, he recorded the moment on his phone.

“We made it to the top of Kilimanjaro,” he said.

The achievement culminated a test of mind and body for Stroup, a board member of the Boys & Girls Club of Bethlehem. It also came during a period of profound personal loss: Stroup left on the fundraising mission one day after his sister died.

“When I got to the top, everything melted away,” Stroup said. “Every single piece of motivation melted away. All of the work I had done just disappeared, and I was in a moment of being fully present.”

Climb raises $55,000 for Bethlehem kids

Stroup’s climb raised $55,000 in just two months for the Boys & Girls Club of Bethlehem.

Stroup paid for his own trip, allowing every dollar donated through the fundraiser to go to the 96-year-old organization.

“This organization is small enough to make a meaningful impact on the hundreds of kids that it serves,” Stroup said. “So, I think that this is going to make the Boys and Girls Club of Bethlehem reinvigorate it to make a difference in the lives of more kids.”

The money will be used for facility upgrades at the Boys & Girls Club.

But club head Winston Alozie believes Stroup’s accomplishment could have another kind of impact on the children it serves.

Asked what kids might take from seeing someone from Bethlehem climb a mountain in Africa, Alozie said the accomplishment could expand their sense of what is possible.

“It shows them the world isn’t small,” Alozie said. “They can go and do and be anything.”

While the money Stroup raised will improve the club’s building, he hopes the example of his climb reaches beyond its walls.

“You don’t need to sit on your couch and just think about stuff,” Stroup said. “It is possible to take those ideas and turn it into reality.”