Two men will be starting an eight-day journey on August 27^th this year to paddle 300 miles across Lake Difenbaker and down the Saskatchewan River in Canada to raise funds and awareness for Cayman’s National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

One of the men, Chad Guenter, a firefighter based in Canada, completed the same journey last year when he raised funds and awareness for those suffering from mental illness under the umbrella of  “Keep Calm and Paddle On”.

Guenter wants to do the journey again but the person paddling the support raft was unable to take part again this year. His good friend and long time Grand Cayman resident, Jasmin Muratagic, heard of Guenter’s predicament and being a keen kayaker offered to take his place.

The two men will be making the journey, Guenter on a Stand Up Paddleboard and Muratagic paddling the support raft/kayak that will carry their tents, clothing, food and safety gear.

However, Muratagic, said he was going to paddle for a Cayman Islands charity and as one of his friends is married to one of the directors of the NCVO he decided on that one.

“I got in touch with the NCVO,” he said, “and when I found out about their foster home and saw it, I knew that was my cause.”

Each day the two men will paddle from sunrise to sunset. They will not pass any towns or villages along the way and will camp on the banks of the river at night.

Heineken and Jacques Scott are the official sponsors and Muratagic has opened a dedicated bank account so that anybody wanting to make a donation, of any size, may do so.

There are also a number of fundraising events on Grand Cayman. These include an Open Mic night at Lone Star on 26^th June and a Sunday Fun Day boat party on 28^th July. All proceeds will go to the NCVO.