Universal Love A Call To Arms, Cancer Council Fundraiser

[Pilchard_Adams]

Hey guys, 4.5 years ago now I lost a very close friend to cancer. I watched as this person battled from a young age, through chemotherapy, hip replacement, and a few years of living without a hip. In the end he passed at the young age of 24. Im sure just about everyone has a story about how cancer got a hold of someone they loved and for me, this was tough to deal with. I was of a similar age and found it difficult to deal with knowing how much he didnt deserve the cards he was dealt. The way he dealt with it was an absolute inspiration, and it inspired me to do something.

This persons name is Stewart "Afro" Cairns. Huge heart, extremely positive, and never gave up fighting OR living. He would come out to the city with us in our younger days despite being on crutches and having no hip. His leg would become part of dance moves which always got a laugh and always drew in people for a chat, many of whom became friends. He also loved Adelaide United and most importantly, the Adelaide Crows. Even attended games. I see people today wasting their life, sitting playing video games, not getting outside, and always makes me think of how Afro always wanted to do something. People dont appreciate life as much as they should. Life is meant to be lived.

Well, financial set backs, a redundancy, and a bad break up later, I have finally found myself in a position where I could dedicate the appropriate time, money and effort to try and make a difference. 9 months ago I planned a fundraiser:

On the 1st September a friend and I are taking our Kayaks up to Murtho. This is a small town situated as close to the NSW/VIC border as we can get, and we are going to Kayak all the way to the ocean. This is a 642km journey, and we have to take everything we need on the kayaks. So, swags, cooking gear, fishing gear, clothing, you name it, it will be on board the kayaks. We plan on only taking 5 days worth of food and catching enough to last us the trip, but have the option of stopping in at various towns along the way. Water, we have survival straws for drinking river water, and will filter our own for cooking. There is no support crew here. Just us. On top of this, we are planning on filming an amateur documentary of the Riverland and various survival skills we try out. Don't ask me how this will turn out, I have never attempted anything like this before. But with Afro's inspiration, I want to try. I was a huge Malcom Douglas and Alby Mangals fan as a kid, and I want to inspire people to do things they have dreamed of and live their lives while they can. The trip should take 3-4 weeks as our kayaks are fairly slow and sluggish, they are fishing kayaks with decent storage. Not built for distance.

Anyway, The Cancer Council SA have helped me through this. Last week I was front page of the Northern Suburbs of Adelaide Messenger, have had mentions on radio, and have donation boxes in various locations. The Mods have been kind enough to allow me to post it on here too, thanks Allefgib . My target is $5000, but seems I am going to smash that, and its no reason to stop promoting this. I have had a couple of big businesses get behind me as well.

So if anyone would like to donate to support me, the link is:
http://sa.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/benrichards

All online donations will come with a tax deductible receipt. I am more than happy for people to follow me on facebook (Ben Richards) to follow the journey as I will post updates along the way, as well as links to the doco when it is finished (hopefully November/December).

Thanks for your time guys, and of course, any suggestions, places of interest, or tips on how to cook carp are welcome!!

GO CROWS!!

Regards,
Ben

 

[jenny61_99]

Tips on how to cook carp: DON'T.

What a great way to honour your mate.

 

[little graham]

Good luck, I think its a very noble thing you're doing.

I would really like to see donations go into the cancer education centers like the one set up at the flinders medical center by Mike Rann and Lance Armstrong. Rather than funding researchers and their lifestyles trying to find more uses for the antiquated and profit based chemotherapy. Or even people like Mark Hutchinson (look him up on facebook) whose doing an amazing job saving peoples lifes (including children) and campaigning for the ability to use hemp oil to beat cancers.

Prevention, by diet and exercise is proven to be the best way to combat cancer, as well as host of other western civilization diseases.

Thanks for listening. I won't boar you with details of caring/supporting my old man as chose to let cancer ravage him.

 

[Pilchard_Adams]

Just a quick thankyou to those who donated. The target of raising $5000 for the Cancer Council SA was smashed and is up at $8000 and still climbing.

It took 25 long days of no hot water, no bottled water, living in swags, eating carp and facing the elements, but we managed to kayak around 750km of the Murray from Victoria, through Lake Alexandrina, and to the ocean.

Thanks

 

[1970crow]

Just a quick thankyou to those who donated. The target of raising $5000 for the Cancer Council SA was smashed and is up at $8000 and still climbing.

It took 25 long days of no hot water, no bottled water, living in swags, eating carp and facing the elements, but we managed to kayak around 750km of the Murray from Victoria, through Lake Alexandrina, and to the ocean.

Thanks

Well done on achieving your goals, hope it was arduous. I hadn't sen this before, would have really enjoyed keeping abreast of the trek.

 

[little graham]