Blog 1 - An introduction...

Tom Dunn
Feb 13, 2016
2 min read

“Hello and welcome to SUP4DCA” To finally be able to say those 5 words fills me with joy. SUP4DCA, for myself, has been a long time coming. For over a year I’ve toyed with the decision to undertake a second trip and it’s really exciting to be able to announce that I’m back doing something I enjoy. Whilst Kayaking the Murray for Aurora was an utter success, I knew that with better preparation and some assistance there was the potential for a second trip to be even bigger! I’ve got really high hopes for this trip and with such a big reward, high hopes on how its success will result in some deserving families in rural/remote Australia receiving a helping hand. Whilst the core idea remains the same, there’s been some key changes that I think need to be recognized.

First is the efforts of Ash Garwood. Ash was a work colleague of mine and it was when she jumped on board that things really took shape and SUP4DCA went from an idea to a reality. She shares my passion for this project and with her in my corner I feel much more assured of success. Second in the change in charity. From the KMA trip I’ve decided to change the beneficiary of the funds we raise to Deaf Children Australia. During the first journey, I fundraised for Aurora as they had provided assistance to my sister Cate with early intervention and early education. More recently, Cate has been receiving support from DCA so I decided I would fundraise so more children and young people could benefit from the programs Cate accessed while living in the country. Another reason is that DCA is a national organisation which better reflects the nature of my journey across four states. Thirdly and the one that will be most notable is I’ve traded in the kayak for a stand-up paddle board. There’s no logical reason for this, the SUP board will be slower and will be more physically demanding. Another fun fact about the SUP is that at the time of writing I’ve never actually been on one before, which is actually why I chose it. I figured that after spending 3,600km on one, I could add SUP to a list of things I know how to do, but we will see how much I regret it as time goes by. The last point is the fundraising goal we have set. It stands at $60,000 which is no small feat. We aim to achieve this by a much greater focus on sponsorship from all businesses and companies. So with that in mind here’s a little sales pitch. If your business would like to be a part of our efforts to aid children who are deaf or hard of hearing in rural communities, then please get in contact with us and we’d love to promote your decision to help us. I’m looking forward to hopefully interacting with everyone who gets involved with SUP4DCA both in the lead up to this journey and also during the trip itself. Together we stand to make a real difference. Until next time, Tom.