Stand Up for Great Lakes is launching another paddle on Saturday, but this time the participants are much younger.
Over the last few months, the group has fundraised big bucks for the Great Lakes.
They’ve been planning and preparing for months.
On Saturday, three Cherryland Middle School students will embark on a 50 mile paddle board journey on St. Mary’s River.
Max Ward is in the 8th grade, and will be a part of the journey.
“It’s just the fact that it’s 50 miles, it’s going to be a really cool adventure,” said Ward. “I’ve never done anything like this. So, it’ll be an awesome experience.”
He says his group has been training for the last six months, even taking on extreme weather conditions.
“We’ve trained half a dozen times in the winter in the cold and throughout the spring. We’ve paddled on the Boardman River for 21 miles and we did a couple other training paddles,” says Ward.
Kwin Morris is there a science teacher and mentor for this trip.
He says out of all the paddles they do, this one is extra special.
“One of my favorite parts of Stand Up for Great Lakes is these student led adventures and we have our biggest one planned for tomorrow morning,” says Morris.
The group’s goal was to raise $3,000 for Great Lakes cleanup and education, but they’ve already flew past that, raising more than $9,000.
“That was the reason- to inspire future generations and to see them want to take on this huge challenge and raise awareness and funds. It’s humbling, it’s inspiring to me,” says Morris.
Weather pending- they will set out on Saturday from Sault Sainte Marie at 6:30 in the morning.
Make sure to stick 9&10 News as we follow the group on their journey.
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