It was a dark and stormy evening on 20 July. The rain pelted down in Cape Town bringing traffic, as usual, to a grinding standstill. There was water, water everywhere – a symbolic backdrop to this special occasion.
Luckily the team from Carrick and Signature of Hope Trust made it safely to the Two Oceans Aquarium for a dramatic media launch in the viewing room in of the I&J Ocean Exhibit.
Why you may ask?
Carrick Wealth is proud to announce its sponsorship of The SUP Crossing and its association with Chris Bertish, professional speaker, waterman, and adventurer. Chris’ motto is: Dream it; See it; Believe it; Achieve it. He inspires people from all walks of life to reach for their dreams and to achieve things they never thought possible.
At the end of 2016, Chris will attempt the SUP Transatlantic Crossing, paddling the equivalent of a marathon every day for 120 days – 7500km – from the coast of Morocco, via the Canary Islands to the coast of Florida in the USA. Carrick Wealth is the Official Title Sponsor of this record-breaking, courageous venture.
Why are we sponsoring such a feat? I and my board of directors want to support the courage that Chris will be drawing on to achieve such a stoical, inspirational effort but, more importantly, for two very good causes: to assist Chris and the Signature of Hope Trust raise much-needed donations for Operation Smile and for The Lunchbox Fund.
Operation Smile South Africa provides free life-changing and often life-saving surgeries for children with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities throughout Southern and Central Africa.
Surgeons and medical workers volunteer their time on six continents to help one in 700 babies to:
- eat and swallow properly;
- to hear properly;
- to be able to speak and
- to be able to smile.
Approximately twelve medical specialists are involved in every single case of infant oral deformity – from plastic surgeons to ENT specialists, oral surgeons, orthodontists, speech pathologists … right up to geneticists who advise parents about the chance of having more children with these conditions.
This is a cause that resonates with the Signature of Hope Trust because the goal of Signature of Hope is to address challenges such as:
- accessing deserving causes;
- finding ways to make the greatest difference in the lives of others, and
- above all, to raise funds through personal and corporate donations.
Raising money for life-saving surgeries is certainly a cause that the Trust seeks to support.
The second cause that the SUP Crossing seeks to benefit is The Lunchbox Fund which provides one hot meal per day to needy, hungry, young school children so that they may better concentrate at school, receive adequate nutrition in a hot meal and, hopefully, thrive physically and academically as a result.
A very small donation of R2.50 per meal is all that is needed to sponsor one hot meal for one child. Signature of Hope Trust is, likewise, very keen to raise as much money for this cause too.
And then, a cause particularly close to the heart of Craig Featherby, the founding member of Signature of Hope Trust is the collection of funds for the building of six schools in South Africa. Signature of Hope will be announcing the partnerships at a later date.
If you would like to donate to the Signature of Hope Trust to support Chris Bertish to achieve his goal – to raise as much money as possible for these causes, please use these bank details.
Be sure to keep up with Chris’ progress by following us on our social media channels.
