Two years ago, I started a fundraising campaign to raise money for my Aunt Linda who has run Noah's Ark Home for Children in the Philippines since 1989. Linda is an amazing person and has done incredible things for children who have needed her help. She provides food, clothing, shelter and education to children in need, and she has been doing this for an unbelievable amount of time (Almost 20 years!!).
Two years ago I cycled 260KM in 2 days to raise money and awareness for my Aunt's cause Read about it here).
Last year I wanted to raise the stakes, but I had a busy summer with school and work, so I didn't have time to plan an excursion worthy of the challenge I was looking for. So this year I'm finally ready to do it.
My plan is to kayak across Lake Ontario from the Toronto Harbour to Niagara-on-the-Lake, camp for a night in Niagara-on-the-Lake and then kayak back the next day. If I were able to paddle directly in a straight line to Niagara-on-the-Lake, it would be 50KM. I figure I probably won't be in a directly straight line, so the total will probably be around 55KM each way.
I've been kayaking 3 days a week so far to train for my lake crossing, and I'm planning to do it in late August or early September. For my training I've been kayaking 9KM's to 14KM's, depending on how much time I have. The weekend I choose for my crossing will need to be flexible in order to avoid heavy winds. I am hoping my friend Mark will be able to join me as well if he can pull it off.
In 2006, I planned to raise $1000 and I ended up raising a total of $1,845. This year I'm raising the goal to $4000. I'm going to donate $1000 of my own money, so that means I'm going to try to raise $3000 through my friends, imason and my family. To sponsor me for this, all you need to do is send me an e-mail or post a comment on this blog entry. I'll collect the money after I successfully cross the lake along with your home address. You'll receive tax receipts for your contribution. The receipts will be provided by the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. 10% will go to the church as a fixed processing fee, while 90% of your donation will be sent overseas to my Aunt's foster home.
Your support is very much appreciated!
A few weeks ago Han, Tom and I went out to Wisconsin to visit my Dad and Step-Mom. It had been 2 years since I had made it out to visit my Dad's place. We had a great time doing outdoor activities most of the weekend since he lives out in the countryside alongside the farmers of Wisconsin.
I love to hear the stories about his neighbours who get most of their food from their hunting and fishing game. These people can afford to buy groceries for food, but they hunt for food because that's how they were raised (and they enjoy it!). Judging by the number of deer we spotted driving along the highway, there appears to be no shortage of hunting game in Wisconsin.
I would love to spend a few months shadowing a hunter/farmer to gain perspective into their lifestyle and how it drastically differs from the urban-living that I've been primarily accustomed to.
As always, my Dad amazed me at his physical ability and his endurance. The 3 of us boys played football, and my Dad was a 58-year-old machine. We also went for a 5-mile run and he's still a great runner. If I ever feel like I'm running out of steam, whether I'm in a running race, a triathlon or kayaking on Lake Ontario, I always think of my Dad and it always motivates me to push harder.
Frieda (My Stepmother) has done an amazing job over the years with her ever-expanding garden. I can only imagine how much work it must have been to build and to maintain it, but it was very beautiful and magical to see them in real life.
Frieda's garden was featured in an Appleton Wisconsin newspaper last September as the "Secret Garden". I was quite shocked to learn that she gathered all of the rocks herself from the surrounding area. There are a lot of rocks!
Here are some of the pictures I took from that weekend:
