After the initial media wave in New York City, I’m still busy as ever with interviews, talks, and events. Here is a recap of the highlights during the last couple weeks:
Special guest at a Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game. I may have missed celebrating Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and St. Patrick’s Day in Cleveland, but this one night made up for it all. The Cavaliers were participating in “NBA Green Week” in early April and I was invited to be recognized before tip-off in front of the 20,000+ cheering Cavs fans. Little did I know they would present me with an incredible surprise – my very own jersey. Number 70 for my 70 days at sea. I wonder if they’ll notice if I run on court at their next game wearing it! As I was walking off court, I even heard one of the Cavs players shouting “Go, Katie, go”. Well, hello Lebron!
At the game, a Row for Water booth was set up at the concourse and autographed warm-up shirts worn by all the players were raffled off. Over $3,000 for the Blue Planet Run was raised, reaching my final fundraising goal of providing one person access to safe drinking water for every mile it took to cross the Atlantic.
Appearance at Beachwood High School’s “The Green Dream”. Last year, I gave a talk to a class at Beachwood High School about the challenge and goal setting. The seniors hosted an annual event with eighty eco-friendly business and I set up a booth with my rowboat outside for attendees to check out. The students generously presented me and Jin Zidell, the Blue Planet Run Founder, a check for $2,000 for safe drinking water projects. That’s enough to help 70 people gain access to safe water for life!
Welcome home party. Last Saturday I had the final celebration of the journey with an hour-long talk and a half-hour of questions and answers, followed with the biggest birthday cake ever. The Rotary Club of Chagrin Valley really went above and beyond to make this a memorable day – putting together a short video, presenting a map of the journey, inviting the guests (especially the Blue Planet Run Founder and my sponsors), and reuniting the “mini-wilson” they gave me before I began the journey. A HUGE thank you to everyone who attended and who put the event together. It was another reminder of how small this all started and the magical ripple effect of how this came to be. Except for a bit of volcanic ash that kept Sam in London (good friend and mentor during row), I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my birthday!
Speaking, speaking, and more speaking. Lots of upcoming talks to schools and groups. Yesterday I gave a talk in Portland, Oregon to an all-girls high school called St. Mary’s for their poverty awareness day and tomorrow in Vancouver for a rotary club (in between two radio shows – we’ll see if I can pull it off!). Then back to Ohio for one on Saturday morning.
It’s all been a bit crazy!
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