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| Krijn (black and orange) in action |
Last Tuesday Krijn Donk and Henk Swijnenburg showed up at the start of the 200 km long ice skating tour at the Weissensee in Austria. Their goal was to raise funds for Teen Challenge in Armenia.
Unfortunately temperatures were just above freezing that day and there was a lot of water on the ice. The skaters did their utmost to prevent falling down on the wet ice, because further skating with wet clothing can lead to hypothermia.
Krijn reported that he had fallen three times, the last time just 700 meters before the finish, after which he got a severe cramp in his calf. Yet, he was able to finish the tour in an astonishing time of 7:38 hours, with an average speed of 26:15 km per hour. Unfortunately, Henk had to stop the fight against the weather and ice conditions after 150 km, after more than eight hours of skating.
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| Krijn and Henk at the end of a long day... |
Although the lack of good quality ice and freezing temperatures were disappointing, the fundraising campaign certainly was a success. The two men raised 8,200 euro so far with their action, an amount that will go entirely to the work of Teen Challenge among the homeless, addicted and desperate in Armenia.
"A good sum has been raised for Armenia," said Krijn. "Such a good cause is a great incentive to skate the 200 km and suffer through the pain. The assistance and care that we receive from Adrie Swijnenburg is indispensable!"
We contacted Gagik and Lusine Mkrtchyan from Teen Challenge Armenia. They were completely taken by surprise to hear about the funds coming their way. "With that gift, we might be able to buy a piece of property with a larger house (where electricity and sanitary facilities are already present). There is a property for sale close to where we are currently working. We did not dare to dream that this could be a possibility."
We will keep you informed of the developments via this blog. We would like to thank everyone who has, in any way, contributed to this fundraiser. If you have not yet transferred your pledge or given a gift, please do so as soon as possible at St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275, BIC: RABONL2U stating: WEISSENSEE.