"Cause I Can" Judith Cantor's fundraising projects

Super Soggy Sunday

Last Sunday, The Paddle Steamers, took to the water for the 17.5km Lifestart Kayak For Kids challenge.

The weather conditions weren't the most pleasant - in fact we got drenched before we even entered the water, and again as the first trio neared their transition point - but the mood was buoyant! Despite a few hitches, we finished in good time and were able to enjoy some lunch in the park at Clontarf with families and friends of the recipients of Lifestart's fantastic services.

None more memorable than little Oscar who, at about 2 or 3 years old, had the crowd cheering for him as he raised his arms over his head like the champion he is, and ran through the finishing line. Again and again and again.

Oscar, and a number of his friends, has Down Syndrome, Autism and other forms of developmental delay. Others didn't. But what was so refreshing to see is that it didn't matter to them at all. They just did what kids do: play. It was a great reminder that, although adults sometimes have hang-ups, they're not innate. Kids are born accepting unless other behaviour is instilled in them. 

I'd rather be like a kid. Wouldn't you?

Please show your acceptance by supporting Lifestart today. Visit www.everydayhero.com.au/_the_paddle_steamers_1 and make a donation so lots of kids like Oscar and his family have access to such a wonderful network of understanding, care and education. The page will be active until the end of April.

Thanks.

If you'd like to see a few very soggy team members and a few beautiful-but-moody shots of Sydney Harbour, check out the photos.

Team of 12. Route of 17.5km. Triple kayak.


On Sunday 27 March (yes, this Sunday), The Paddle Steamers will take to the water of Sydney Harbour Lower North Shore in a relay race of 17.5km. This year, our team are a mix of veterans from last year's race and keen and eager newbies including one Brit, one Swede and three women who just completed the 100km Coastrek walk from Palm Beach to Coogee!

Lifestart is an early childhood intervention program for children with Down Syndrome, Autism, delays in development, or at risk of delay. It's a parent co-operative providing a family-centred approach to the needs of children with disabilities and their families. It is based on the concept of partnerships between parents and professionals.

The charity has set a goal of $250,000 for this event and the money will go directly towards continuing the support and services to the children and their families. Our team would like to contribute at least $2,400 of this - in only 4 days. 

Can you help us? 

Please visit our fundraising page before Sunday and be as generous as you can. And if you find you aren't able to help in this way at this time, please share my blog with a friend or 20; Lifestart needs all the exposure it can get!

I will keep the fundraising page active for a few weeks so everyone has a chance to support the Paddle Steamers and, more importantly, Lifestart.

Let's help these kids get the best start to life and level of care possible?

Thanks for your kind consideration!

It's kayaking time again! Want to join us?

The Paddle Steamers had so much fun at last year's Kayak4Kids challenge that we've reunited for this year's event on 27 March. More on the fundraising side later!

I've put together a social training schedule starting this Sunday morning at Balmoral Beach. It'd be great if you came along - even if only to have a paddle and a laugh without any expectation of taking part on race day. Pay as you go.

If you do want to join the team, all it will cost you is your share of the entrance fee and payment for the weekly training sessions you attend (usually $15-20 per person depending on whether you opt for a single kayak or pair up with someone else). If we train in the morning, we tend to head to a nearby cafe for coffee or brunch afterwards. If we train in the afternoon, we find somewhere for a drink. Nothing like being on the water, working up a sweat and then rewarding yourself afterwards with great company and something thirst-quenching!

If you're 'um-ming and ah-ing' have a look at the photos from last year's event for some inspiration. 

For more information on training times and venues, please contact Malin at Cantor Direct™ on (02) 8021 9696 or email: malin@cantordirect.com.au.

Feel free to pass this on; the more the merrier!

See you at the water's edge!

Running and sunning.

For those of you in Sydney, you'd know how hot last Saturday was. An unbelievable 41 degrees. Thankfully it wasn't quite that hot when I took part in the very first Sun Run from Dee Why to Manly at dawn. Only 24 degrees when I arrived and 28 degrees by the time I finished at about 8am.

It was a glorious morning though! Beautiful sunrise, energetic crowd of around 6,500 passionate people... and altogether a great way for me to start getting back into my monthly charity challenges in Sydney.

This month's fun run was in aid of Arthritis NSW and their inaugural Summer Challenge. I've kept my fundraising page active for a bit longer since the challenge was so early in the month. Please, if you can, support this veteran charity in providing education to the NSW community, and ongoing research into the causes of arthritis with the aim of finding a cure. All donations will be gladly accepted at www.everydayhero.com.au/judith_cantor_67.

Thanks for your consideration.

Check out some more Sun Run photos.

Next month: The Paddle Steamers take to the water for a 17.5km kayak for Kayak4Kids.

Where'd January go?

Partly into a time warp. Or so it was for me - both literally and metaphorically. The reason: I visited South Africa, my hometown, for six weeks after an absence of six years. And what a trip it was!

Not only did I get to visit friends and family and check out my old haunts, I got to meet new people and explore places I'd never visited when I lived in the country. I also visited the Western Cape projects of MaAfrikka Tikkun, the charity I was raising money for last month. 

I decided that, with the magnitude of disaster in Queensland (and now Far North Queensland), I would hold back on asking Australians to donate to my challenge as I am sure, if they were lucky enough to not be personally affected by the mayhem, they'd be giving to one of the many crisis funds that were created. Of course, I still asked South Africans to support this wonderful cause, and set up a South African fundraising page!

The fun run itself, 15km on 8 January in Jeffrey's Bay, was great. We got off to a bit of a slow start as the mist was so thick the organisers had to postpone the start by 30 minutes for safety reasons. While the event (a common occurence for the participants) may have lacked in numbers compared to big ones like Sydney's annual City2Surf, it didn't in lack in enthusiasm. Boy, these guys take their running/walking seriously!

Being about a month into my holiday, and having not exercised formally in that time, I decided I'd join the few walkers at the back of the pack. I discovered they weren't your average walkers - they were speed walkers! 

I spent the entire 15km way down the back with two lovely women who didn't want me to land up walking by myself, even though there were two guys in a tracking vehicle right behind me. They also said they were happy to take it easy as it was the first get-together of the year. Whether they were just saying this to make me feel better or not, it was very sweet of them to stick by my side. We finished in 135 minutes.

And, by the time we got back to the beach, it was still so misty you couldn't see the waves!

So what's next?

Well, I'm taking part in the very first Sun Run tomorrow from Dee Why to Manly. The 7km doesn't worry me too much (although it will, no doubt, on Sunday when I wake up), it's the 6.45am start that has me wincing just a little bit. Especially since it'll take me about an hour to get there. Ah well, it'll be beautiful once I get there, and it's for a good cause: Arthritis NSW's Summer Challenge.

Now there's a widespread disease - arthritis. Currently 1 in 5 Australians have it. I'm actually not sure if I know anyone who doesn't have 1 of the 120 types of it.

After having been bed-ridden for eight months years ago, I know what it's like to cope with chronic illness. Painful chronic illness. It's not pleasant. At all.

If you know what I'm talking about, please think about supporting my challenge and, through your donation, helping others learn more about their condition and how to make things easier. If you can spare a few dollars, please visit my fundraising page and do so: www.everydayhero.com.au/judith_cantor_67. It'll be active for a number of weeks.

Thanks.

Have a look at some more race day photos.

And, if you'd like, have a look at some of my photos from MaAfrika Tikkun's projects in the townships of Mfuleni and Delft. I'll be blogging about the experience shortly.

Very Mud-dy Run

I've been waiting with bated breath to blog last Saturday's Mud Run in the Glenworth Valley as I wanted to see whether the professional photographers at the event had managed to catch any of me doing the deed... wading through mud, that is! And they did. And it was worth the wait!

I completed the 10km track this year which, I must say, I far preferred to the shorter route I did in 2009. It gave me much more time to enjoy the feeling of being right in the bush and at times. completely alone. I saw butterflies and heard a number of those birds that sound like drops of water hitting a pool.

It also reminded me of two things: one in recent memory, one past. The silliness of it reminded me of my skydive back in April - the sheer 'I can't believe I'm doing this'. I grinned much the same afterwards too. 

The memory long past was actually of me at school. I must've been around 8 or 9 years old. I'd forgotten that I used to be good at cross country running and used to be selected for the school team! As I turned a literal corner last weekend, I seemed to turn a metaphoric one too. It's quite unbelievable for me to think that I used to be good at running! For someone who doesn't class herself as very good at, it or necessarily enjoys it, it was quite the revelation.

It was a poignant challenge for me in a completely different way too - the cancer way. 

I only found out very, very recently that a cousin of mine in South Africa has just had surgery to remove a brain tumour. And, if that wasn't bad enough, although it's been a long time coming, his sister is in and out of hospice in the UK. So, the fact the Mud Run was a fundraiser for the Cancer Council NSW was most fitting.

Sadly I'm sure I'm not alone when it comes to stories like these.

In a bid to improve people's chances and ultimately find a cure for cancer, I'd like to ask you, if at all possible, to make a donation to this cause. Now I know the timing probably couldn't be worse - with Christmas around the corner - but is there ever a good time to be terminally ill?

Help prevent family and friends from contracting this life-threatening disease by visiting www.everydayhero.com.au/judith_cantor_8.

Thanks so much.

Wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful, safe and happy Festive Season. May 2011 be a wonderful year for all.

And if you want to see some of those particularly muddy photos... check them out!

How do you prepare for mud?

Wading, crawling, wallowing in it. I'm not sure there is much you can do other than to... just do it! Well, that's how I'm choosing to see things in the lead-up to tomorrow's Mud Run in Glenworth Valley. 

Did you see the picture of me from last year's event? It was messy, I can tell you.

Okay, I haven't had much choice in the matter when it comes to training - I've been sick since last Friday, on meds and only able to go for short, gentle walks. Doctor's orders. Bah humbug. I'm not about to give up though; I'm just relying on the work I've put in as part of my 12-week body transformation challenge to stand me in good stead!

I'll be attempting the 10km track this year and raising awareness and funds for Cancer Council NSW. Since around 1 in 2 people in this state alone will develop cancer in their lifetime - a staggering 39,000 people -  this is something that needs urgent attention.

If you, or someone you know, have had this awful disease, and you would like to help find a cure so no-one else has to go through debilitating treatment or pain - please visit www.everydayhero.com.au/judith_cantor_8 and make a donation today. What a wonderful Christmas present to give thousands of people, don't you think?

Thanks so much for your support, be it financial, physi!

I know what it's like to have your life put on hold by sickness, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I can only imagine what it would be like if it was life-threatening.

I'll leave the page up for the full month since the challenge is so early on.

When worlds collide

Every now and again a magical thing happens - my personal and professional interests align and I can literally live what I market. Don't get me wrong, I'm always engaged with Cantor Direct's clients' products and services, but this is somehow... different.

I'm so excited because it's happened again.

Now I normally wouldn't bring up business and work in this blog but... this client is about so much more than business and work. SheSuccess is about social change and gender equality and community. So, you see how it fits in with my beliefs and practices?

This new initiative will launch with a star-studded conference at the Sydney Opera House on 1-2 April, 2011 - a platform to discuss issues affecting women on a global scale, and make a commitment to change these issues as a collective.

While the program may seem heavily celebrity and media-focused, the initiatives are very much grassroots. In addition to ongoing projects that will arise from the conference, SheSuccess will be donating 2,100 water pumps to communities in third world countries through WaterAid Australia (that's one for every conference delegate) giving around 126,000 people clean water to drink. It will also be building a school for 200 children in Africa.

If you're interested in finding out more, or attending the SheSuccess conference, visit www.shesuccessconference.com. There's an 'earlybird' discount available on most tickets until this Sunday evening, and, if you're serious about attending and joining me in becoming part of this new movement for change, I can arrange a further 10% discount (on all tickets) for you. When you book, just use the promo code 'CANTOR'.

But please, please don't feel obliged at all; if this isn't on the cards, I hope just hearing about how others are making a difference is inspiring to you.

Contrasts

On Sunday I ran/walked the 10km Run4Fun track at Sydney Olympic Park. 

It was a beautiful morning (read "a welcome break from the incessant rain we've been having  the past few weeks") - although mighty hot to be outdoors exercising in! My tomato-red face at the end could attest to that. Okay, it might have had something to do with my fitness level too.

The main thing that struck me during the fun run was just how farcical and/or poignant it was that I chose to fundraise for Centennial Park Foundation! 

If you haven't been to Sydney Olympic Park, it's a bit of a concrete jungle and, no matter how many trees or shrubs are planted on median strips, it still feels like a ghost town. And it's alienating.

A complete juxtaposition to Centennial Park really! And this is why I urge you to support my challenge this month. We cannot afford to lose our precious oases in this city. Or any city for that matter.

Please give generously to ensure that future generations are able to enjoy the natural environment and learn from it. Visit www.everydayhero.com.au/Judith_Cantor_8786 to make your donation.

Thanks so much.

And don't forget to check out my photos from race day here.

Wide open spaces to think

Now that October's Walk4Water challenge is officially finished ( although I've continued walking just because), I can reflect on just how much headspace it gave me. Time to sort out my stuff. Time to recognise the beauty around me and count my lucky stars.

Another special place I like to go to just 'be' is Centennial Park - an oasis near the middle of a bustling city, shopping strip and trendy cafe zone. It's places like these that are so important to maintain balance - of the physical, mental and spiritual. Of built up space versus green space. Of 'musts' and 'shoulds' versus 'don't have tos'.

How many of us Sydney siders have enjoyed leisurely picnics on the grass under the trees or along the banks of the water? How many have visited the Park as a school kid to learn about environmental issues?

Centennial Park needs to be maintained and preserved so future generations can enjoy it too. At the moment, 60% of it's 15,000 trees need replacing. And many animals need sponsoring.

Can you help to ensure this ecological haven?

I'll be taking part in Run4Fun (10km track) this Sunday to raise awareness and money for this worthwhile cause. Please support me in doing this? You can donate via www.everydayhero.com.au/Judith_Cantor_8786.

Thanks very much, and hope to see you at one of those Centennial Park picnics soon!

P.S. I'll be leaving the donation page open for a while since the fun run is so early in the month.