Dreams Come Alive

The Challenge

Braving Antarctica takes place in The Last Desert, an epic expedition across the final frontier – Antarctica. It is the only multi-day stage race on the Antarctic continent and is only open to those individuals who have successfully completed at least two other deserts.

Competitors will travel by ship across the choppy Drake Passage to the Antarctica Peninsula. Housed on the Antarctic Dream for the duration of the event, competitors will be transported to the start points of each stage of the race. Several stages totalling 250 kilometres (150 miles) will be run on one or more separate locations which have been carefully chosen taking into account safety, the environment, wildlife and landscape. 

RacingThePlanet’s 4 Deserts is a unique category of rough country footraces that take place in remote and culturally rich locations around the world. Named by TIME Magazine as one of its Top Ten Endurance Competitions in the world, each race is a seven-day self supported footrace over 250-kilometres where each competitor carries his or her own gear, food and clothing for the week in a backpack.

The Cause

With Pet Lovers Foundation as partners, Braving Antarctica targets S$100,000 to be raised for Gracehaven, a residential home that cares for children who have either been abused or neglected by parents. It operates as a ‘home’ away from home where in some cases, residents can make their own way to school and back.

For the past 20 years, Gracehaven has been helping children and youths work through their personal issues and difficulties encountered at home and in school, and providing a wide variety of holistic and positive learning experiences to help the residents overcome their past, build a healthy self-esteem and have a sense of moral and social responsibility.

Gracehaven Case Study

Imagine having a father who is always in and out of prison and a mother who is always in a mental hospital. For Terry (not his real name), he really didn’t have to imagine it, because it was all real. When his father died in 2002, he and his sister were tossed from relative to relative to be looked after during their childhood years.

Terry grew up to be a rebellious teenage, playing truant in school, running away from home and getting into fights. In 2007 the law caught up with him when he was caught shoplifting. He was referred to The Salvation Army’s Gracehaven children’s home, where his life changed.

Terry’s stay at Gracehaven actually started bumpy, with him running away twice. The turning point came when, through the steadfast encouragement of his supervisor at Gracehaven, Terry began to take his studies seriously. He would request for a study room and volunteer tutors to help with his schoolwork. He even set out to prove that a normal stream student could do just as well, if not better, than an express stream student. In 2009 Terry earned himself a school bursary and went on to become the top normal stream ‘O’ Level student in his school, and his story made the local news. Today Terry is pursuing a course in Biomedical Science at Temasek Polytechnic.

Terry is but one of the many residents at Gracehaven whom you can give a new lease of life to.

I Want to Contribute

Donating is as easy as a click away and can be made through www.give.sg/org/TSA/BravingAntarctica

Any help or support is well appreciated. Individuals or corporations can play a part through various means: contribution of products and/or services; support through publicity; involvement in fundraising activities or donations to the cause.

All donations are tax deductible. Thank you for your warm hearts.