The Malta Independent on Sunday
Kayak for charity: getting ready for the big day
The Kayak for Charity 2014 team is currently in full drive training, preparing for the forthcoming, never-attempted round trip Malta-Sicily-Malta by kayak in aid of Inspire, the Foundation of inclusion. Supported by Frank Salt Real Estate, this challenge translates to a course of more than 100 nautical miles (190km), which will be paddled non-stop by Andrea Scorcia and Ian Laferla, on board of a double kayak.
As a warm-up to the event, this week they will be circumnavigating the Malta Archipelago; 110km of non-stop paddling which will last approximately 18 hours and which is a mighty challenge in itself.
Kayak for Charity was founded in 2008 by Albert Gambina and Dorian Vassallo, two kayak enthusiasts who decided to put their love for the relatively unfamiliar sport to good use, with the idea of getting more people to know about it and at the same time help people in need. They have been paddling for worthy causes ever since and funds collected over previous challenges have exceeded €65,000.
While still a budding organisation, Kayak for Charity is very active in promoting and assisting philanthropic causes. Only last year, Mr Gambina and Mr Vassallo followed St Paul’s trail from Malta to Rome, paddling 600 nautical miles in three weeks in aid of the Community Chest Fund.
Inspire, the charity benefitting from this year’s challenge, is a non-profit organisation leading the way in providing therapeutic, education and leisure services to persons with disabilities in Malta and Gozo. Among many other noble initiatives, Inspire engages people with disabilities in sports activities and trains them for the Paralympics.
“We are very excited about supporting this local event which brings together sports and altruistic elements, and we are committed to help the organisers reach out as many out there as possible, with the hope of collecting the much-needed funds for Inspire Malta,” said Douglas Salt, director at Frank Salt Real Estate.