ORDINARILY this section is reserved for the paper’s commentary on something happening in the community.
In a way this week’s editorial will aim to do that as well, but I will instead be breaking some of my own golden rules, namely using personal pronouns in an editorial.
The reason being is that last Wednesday I had the privilege and punishment of walking from our offices here at The Bunyip all the way to Adelaide Oval.
The journey took just shy of 11 hours, spanned 42km and required upwards of 55,000 steps.
If you look to page two of this edition, you will see I am not particularly built for a marathon at the moment, but nevertheless, the challenge was in front of me and I was not going to shy away.
The whole reason it came about relates back to the Hope Cup and its noble goal of helping those in the Gawler region sleeping rough.
All-Stars skipper Darren Dwyer asked me to join the team early in my stint at The Bunyip, and part of playing involves raising as much money as possible for the cause.
A heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone that helped me raise almost $2500.
I had some amazing support from local businesses, friends, family and even members of the Gawler community I’ve never met before.
Obviously, the walk itself was a pretty eye-catching journey and that spawned plenty of donations.
A lot of people took it upon themselves to tell me how hard it was going to be in the lead-up and they were proven very right, but I am proud to say not once did I wish I never committed to it.
While thinking back to certain comments did spur me on, nothing motivated me more than a conversation I had with a friend the weekend prior.
This is a person I have known for a few years but never knew much about.
He relayed to me his story, which involved sleeping rough for a very long time in his younger days, moving in and out of homeless services and battling various drug addictions.
He mentioned how organisations like the Salvos can have a tangible difference in the lives of those in need.
Because of that, and the fact I would look pretty silly if I raised $2500 for something I could not achieve, I was able to drag myself over the line.
So thank you to him and to everyone that has helped make the Hope Cup the wonderful event that it is.
