In Florida, there are lots of things to love about summer, but it can also be rather difficult on the peninsula. June is certainly a good example of this. This is the month the sun truly kicks into high gear. It can beat down on us relentlessly. This is also when our temperatures really start to skyrocket up the thermometer, and if we don’t take care of ourselves, it’s not too difficult to pick up a wicked sunburn or find ourselves dehydrated. Then there’s the rise in powerful and sometimes erratic thunderstorms –short, violent bursts of high winds, heavy lightning, and torrential downpours– ushering in hurricane season. Truly, June can be a wild and chaotic ride. It can be beautiful and exhilarating, but it can also kick your ass if you’re not paying attention.
June is also the month the Castaways Against Cancer undergo their epic kayaking relay from Miami to Key West, Florida. The Castaways are everyday folks like you and me, mostly. Instead of simply hanging out on the beach, however, they spend a week at sea battling the elements. They are an assorted crew of folks united by one singular cause: The fight against cancer. They take their fight to the water, together as a team, and kayak from Miami to Key West come rain or shine. Through both thunderstorms and the glaring South Florida sunshine, and every other environmental curveball in-between, the Castaways support and push each other through the elements for the singular purpose of raising money to support the American Cancer Society and the fight against cancer. Not a bad way to spend a week in June, right? (Never mind all the time spent training and prepping for the relay…)
This year is the 15th annual Castaways Against Cancer relay for life. The theme this year is Don’t Stop the Carnival, perhaps a nice nod to Herman Wouk’s classic 1965 novel (as well as Jimmy Buffett’s musical adaptation of the same novel). This year, the group launches on June 7th and should complete their 160 miles tour on June 13th. During the week, they will suffer and triumph, succeed and fail, and fall and rally. They’ll likely feel the gentle oceanic breezes of the Northern Caribbean pulling them along and then feel the harsh sting of squall line storms and currents pushing them back – sometimes within the same hour.
Throughout their week-long gauntlet, the two constants for the Castaways (beyond the kayaks, of course) will be their mission to raise money for the American Cancer Society and their immediate support of each other.
There are many aspects of the Castaways I personally find inspirational. At the top, of course, are their efforts in supporting the fight against cancer through the American Cancer Society. To date, this rag-tag group of kayakers –everyday people– have raised over $500,000 for the American Cancer Society, and that’s pretty damn fantastic. Further, I’m inspired not so much by the distance they cover or the waters they traverse or the weather they endure, but instead by their support of one another during each year’s kayak relay for life. Again, for each Castaway, there are ups and downs — but they will always support one another as best they can in accomplishing their collective goal. This, to me, is deeply inspirational (and something I wish we had more of in the United States).
Not to undermine the value of such events, but it’s fairly easy to assemble a horde of wealthy celebrities to raise money for a particularly devastating (and photogenic) disaster, natural or otherwise. But it’s another thing when ordinary people like you and me take a stand and decide to actively do something to help others in need. Cancer is, quite tragically, treated as a seemingly faceless disaster in the United States. Recent figures from the American Cancer Society estimate that there will be approximately 1,665,540 new cases of cancer in the United States in 2014 alone. Further, the ARC estimates that this year 585,720 people will die of cancer in the U.S. alone. PDF Report.
Though there have been promising advances in understanding how cancer works, in learning how to take preventative measures to reduce the risk of cancer, and in treating those who are biologically fighting cancer, there is still much work to be done, as well as help that is needed. This is what the Castaways are fighting for. They’re fighting for you, for me, for their families, and for everybody we know (and even those we don’t). Cancer, you see, isn’t something that happens in isolation. It isn’t something that just happens to cells. Cancer can devastate families and communities, but that doesn’t mean we have to accept that as a given. And we don’t have to wait for the MegaTelethon on the TeeVee machine to contribute and help in the fight against cancer. We can all fight cancer, each of us in our own ways. And in this, we can all be better connected.
Perhaps this is one reason I’ve always found their name, Castaways, a bit ironic. In their view, I believe (as well as in mine), we are only castaways if we willingly allow ourselves to drift away from those around us. If we band together, if we cooperate and coordinate as communities, as families, as teams, well… then none of us have to be alone, and there is no amount of rain or shine that can shut us down when we work with and for one another. Though the Castaways do indeed cast themselves upon the waters, sometimes far from shore, they are in reality fostering more closeness for our families and our communities. And I believe we can all do the same. We can all be Castaways in this sense, and resist being castaways in the senses of isolation and apathy.
So, will you paddle with and follow the Castaways this year? And will you support your friends, your families, and your communities through the fight against cancer by way of the Castaways Against Cancer and the American Cancer Society. I know I will. Come rain or shine.
To learn more about the Castaways (as well as to follow their trip in real time) and help support the fight against cancer, please visit their website at:
http://www.castawaysagainstcancer.com
Next on Dust Tracks: We’re very near the end of our New Smyrna Beach Bioblitz series. We’ll resume posts on Monday!
Photos: Top photo is from 10 July 2011 in the Florida Keys. Bottom photo is from 21 May 2014 in New Smyrna Beach. The other images are from the Castaways Against Cancer website.
Filed under: Featured Sites, Florida, Miami-Dade county, Monroe county Tagged: Cancer, Castaways Against Cancer, Florida, Florida Keys, Kayak, Kayaking, Miami, Miami-Dade, Miami-Dade county, Monroe, Monroe county
