Martin was born in Slovenia. Slovenia is a small Central European country located south of Austria. He taught himself to swim when he was 6, in a nearby stream, and became a professional marathon swimmer in 1978.
Martin has been swimming ultra-marathons and raising an important awareness of clean waters for many years. He has dedicated several swims to the protection of environmental resources.
Check out his accomplishments HERE
WOW! This is an amazing story of one athlete using his talent to unite the world…
The Gomez’s are arguably one of the most philanthropic families I have ever met. They constantly instill selfless values on their kids and encourage them to give back at every opportunity. Their youngest son, Hunter, is a successful teen actor and on his 18th birthday he chose to organize a soccer tournament for a good cause instead of celebrate like most young men might.
The video he made illustrates how powerful that decision was both for the people he helped and himself as a man.
Many of you had the pleasure of learning about Paul and his crew making a difference from AG’s recent post titled “Long Treks On Skate Decks”. I have had the pleasure of emailing with Paul and through that learned that AG wasn’t entirely accurate with all our information and wanted to include this update that he sent me:
“LongTreksOnSkateDecks covered a solo trip done by our team mate Laura Hatwell who raised money for Help for Hero’s based out of the UK where she lives.
I have strongly considered doing an event for a charity to help Soldiers with PTSD having been in the Army myself and having lots of friends serving in Afghanistan. But due to our heavy focus on documenting our trip through photographs, video, music, stories and poem, we’ve decided to partner up with a local charity this year named Art a la Carte. Art a la Carte is a small charity based out of Calgary Alberta Canada that focuses on patients recovering from cancer. They provide artwork of various media types which is loaned/presented to the patients at local cancer centers. We will be providing landscape photography as well as photographs of us on our journey’s to Art a la Cart to be used as images to help ease patients, or to help motivate them. On our next voyage to morocco, we are also trying to raise a Minimum of $1 per Kilometer for each rider (totaling $7500 minimum} for the charity. Our mission is to inspire people first and foremost so we felt this was an excellent charity to work with.”
I have to say, I really admire Paul for the thought he’s putting into his charity of choice. AG is always encouraging people to find a cause they REALLY connect with, not just the first one they see. It’s as important to connect with your cause as it is to connect with your challenge.
Keep following Paul and his crew at http://www.longtreksonskatedecks.com/
This is an incredible story of one athlete riding thousands of miles in an effort to raise money for a good cause. Please check out his page HERE
These guys are taking it to the next level. The cool part is that they’re doing it in the name of fallen soldiers by raising money for “Help for Heroes”. Check out this video and definitely take a look at their website
Often, the silver lining in a huge tragedy like the one in Haiti is seeing everyone come together in the aftermath to help those in need. It’s humanity at its finest and Charlie Simpson, a sever year old athlete, is a prime example. Click HERE to read this heart warming article.
After hanging out with a few friends who spend their time volunteering or working as firefighters, I have seen first hand just how great of athletes they are! Here is the story of one of them doing extraordinary things to help others.
John Dau has an incredible story as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, and he was featured in the film/book “God Grew Tired of Us”. He was motivated to start his own foundation called the John Dau Sudan Foundation. The JDSF’s mission involves transforming healthcare in Southern Sudan.
John Dau lives in the US now and has his connection with more than 27,000 others who were displaced like him or orphaned, prompted 23-year-old Sudanese born track and field athlete Lopez Lomong (he carried the U.S. flag in the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics) to get involved.
Read more HERE
I have always said that some of the best athletes in the world are our soldiers. They train hard to be the best at what they do in the name of our country. All too often they end up facing challenges that I can’t even begin to imagine as a result of their service.
Dave Sharpe was one of those soldiers. He was struggling with PTSD and didn’t know where to turn or who to talk to. That’s when he found Cheyenne, a pit bull rescue puppy. Over time he started to realize that she was the perfect outlet and that’s when he decided to start a program to help other vets have the same companionship.
It’s a great story and well worth a read.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34572712/ns/health-pet_health/
