2016 – A personal resumé:
Another year has gone by… Phew! And once again you have the feeling: Why on earth does it feel as if time goes by faster with every single season that passes?
We started “Action for S4K!“ 4 years ago and with every passing year we built new friendships, found new partners, became more outgoing and gained self-confidence.
So let’s look back at some of the 2016 “Action” highlights:
Biathlon For S4K_3:
In late January 2016 it was time for the 3rd edition of our “Biathlon”. Once again “Nordic Schule Notschrei“ offered us a great deal and the “Hotel Gersbacher Hof” supported us by donating part of their profits! Thank You! Because of weather-warnings we were forced to cancel day two of the event, but the skiing-school managed to squeeze in the shooting into day 1! So we did not lose a challenge, but were even more active on day one! #TwoInOne earning CAD 1078 for the kids. Let’s hope for snow and good weather for early February 2017!
New Jersey and Ontario:
In early summer we spent 2,5 weeks in New Jersey and Ontario. Whilst staying with very dear family-friends in the US, we had the chance to visit our online friend (and my (Bea’s) swimming-coach) Elaine for the first time! We had such a great time together. So much fun, so many great talks and Elaine surprised us with the most amazing idea ever: She created little glass bottles with our logo, to be sold in aid of S4K. We were so moved and nearly in tears… By now these bottles have turned into a real hit and gave us the idea for the “Action Bottle Club”, an ongoing fundraiser, that can be found on our website. And thank you Elaine for the most precious and personal gift that was ever given to me!
In Ontario we experienced so much love and hospitality it was mind-blowing: Thank You to Kim, Kim’s family and friends! We will never forget all of our road-trips, the Canadian barbecue, my first attempt to prepare a potato salad (thanks for pretending it was good)… and the Black Flies. Please take us back!
And Thank You to Tina Marie and Kyra for driving all the way up from Rochester to meet us for dinner in Niagara Falls!
Splashdiving For S4K:
This was quite an experience. In spring 2016 Oliver, the head of splashdiving.com was a guest on the show I was working on. During a phonecall he told me that he had just returned from India, where he is supporting a social project. We started to talk about charity work and I told him about “S4K” and our fundraisers. We agreed that we needed to talk about ideas once we meet in person. After we wrapped the show Oliver approached me with a surprising offer: He invited us to participate in the “Splashdiving World Championship 2016” to promote “Sanctuary for Kids”. After some time to think, a few calls and emails we agreed and signed-up! 6 crazy girls from all over Germany and Switzerland were about to do “pool-bombing” for the good cause! The result: “Perfect” full-team-3-meter – jumps! Two 5-meter-jumps! And two 10-meter-jumps… and massive bruising: #AllForTheKids and earning CAD 1043 for “Sanctuary for Kids” and a 4 – minute TV-coverage. Two days after the event we were invited back for 2017; and believe us: WE WILL PRACTISE!
The Maltese Challenge:
In October we were back in Malta, once again teaming up with “Gozo-Adventures” for another fundraiser. We had unexpected help in promoting our fundraiser by “Meridiana Wine Estate” and our wonderful hotel, “The Corinthia Palace Hotel and Spa” who featured us and the event on their homepage and on their Social Media sites. “Gozo Adventures” were amazing and surprised us by changing the challenge from “Upseiling” to “Climbing” as they thought it to be more demanding… But this day of challenges was worth every bit of sweat… It was amazing and snorkeling next to the “Azure Window” was purely outstanding! Especially having in mind that the Azure Window was the setting for some of the scenes in season one of “Game of Thrones”. This location has NOW been closed for snorkeling, so we had been more than lucky in October. Thank You Natascha for coming with us and your great company! #AllForTheKids, the #MalteseChallenge made CAD 581 for “S4K”. We can’t wait to be back in Malta / Gozo for more!
Mefistofele in Munich:
In early November we celebrated my (Bea) Mum’s 75th birthday by taking her to see a – truly breathtaking – performance of „Mefistofele“ at the Staatsoper München. This alone would not justify an entry into this resumé but we were also given the chance to meet up with Joseph Calleja (@MalteseTenor) who is Mum’s favourite opera singer AND who had been following us on Twitter and sharing our events on Facebook ever since our first fundraiser in Malta! A huge Thank You to our wonderful friend Rose for making the first contact and to Joseph for agreeing to participate in that surprise! Joseph, we really hope to make it to your 20th anniversary concert in Floriana in August; not only to see you perform but also to support your own charity, supporting kids in Malta.
An Outlook / New ideas / Unforeseen Challenges:
(1) In Autumn I stumbled across a TV-coverage about Paragliding near Stuttgart. We knew the place, so an idea formed inside our heads… We wrote an email to the sporting-club with links to the “S4K”-website and our own. The result? Only two days later we got a call, telling us that they are more than interested to team up for a fundraiser. #ParaglidingForS4K was born, coming up in Spring.
(2) Every year in October we write an Email to our „Biathlon – Hotel“, to confirm the dates for the next event. This year the answer we received made us freak out a little… The hotel had been sold and the new owners had no idea what we were talking about, but asking us to explain… So we hectically wrote an Email explaining what we had been doing for the past 3 years and that we hoped that they would continue the tradition. Two hours later we had an answer: YES they would love to continue the partnership and they agree to the same conditions! What a relief! Thank You, Roger and Bernadette! Bring on February 2017!
All of these experiences let us look excitedly at what lies ahead in 2017!
What we learned in 2016:
Apart from all the positive experiences we also had to learn to stand up for ourselves and our reasons to support „Sanctuary for Kids“, to explain our motives over and over again but also to deal with jeaulousy and resentment from many sides. We pulled through by taking in the advice of a nearly twelve-year-old kid who kept on telling us: “It’s most important to create your own positive memories and to never give up! It doesn’t matter one bit what others may think of you, as long as you stay true to yourself!”
Our wish for 2017?
That you will all help us to crack the total of CAD 10.000 raised for “Sanctuary for Kids”! – At the moment we stand at more than CAD 9.300 –
With All our Love and Best Wishes for 2017, Bea and Carmen