While our positioning statement is "The world's longest annual charity event", the event slogan is, "... helping Tasmanian Kids in need" – reflecting the underlying motivation behind this bold adventure.
1000kms4kids came about thanks to an idea by Charles Seaman (founder of the event) to do something both physically challenging and that had not been done before. Paddling a kayak 40kms a day over 26 day for charity, meet both criteria. But Charles decided that when he completed this extraordinary challenge, it must be a victory not just for him and his fellow kayakers, but a victory for Tasmanian Kids in need!
For the 2010 event all three paddlers are fathers, and paddling in this event represents an opportunity to give our time and energy to help kids and their families look forward to a brighter future.
While the dangers we will face during the paddle are real and range from white pointer sharks to huge seas, we will finish this event and go back to our normal lives. The thought that our kids would ever have to face the challenges the kids this event is supporting deal with – often every day of their lives, scares us more than any shark or huge wave ever could. So our hearts go out to the families of these kids and we hope that this event – which will become an annual event – will in some small way give them support as they take on their truly daunting task of caring for these special kids.
