Last spring I participated in one of the most emotional triathlon’s I’ve ever experienced. At Ironman Orlando 70.3 I raced with Irag and Afghanistan amputees for a foundation called Operation Rebound, a part of Challenge Athletes Foundation Florida. To be amongst veterans with missing arms and legs as the stood at attention for the national anthem was so very special. To race side by side with these same Soldiers, Sailors and Marines was a unique honor. I shed a few tears that day.
This year I am racing each of Operation Rebound’s five events plus a few more and raising funds to help get running and biking prosthesis for these veterans. These men and women are at the peak of athletic fitness to fight in combat. Their lives are turned upside down when the wake up in a hospital missing an arm or leg. The despair is overwhelming until a veteran from Operation Rebound arrives at their bedside telling them to get well quickly and do their rehab because they have been entered in a triathlon. They are expected to compete, no excuses. This visit tells the veteran that life is not over. They can become whole again. Additionally, some of these veterans remain on active duty and return to combat, in spite of the fact they are missing a leg.
I’ve decided to do every race Operation Rebound offers this year. I’m trying to raise enough funds to help at least one veteran get what they need to compete again all by myself.
My race schedule is below:
December 5 – Pasco Powerman Duathon December 9 - State Biking Time Trial Championships January 9 & 10 - Disney Marathon February 7 - Melbourne Marathon with Operation Rebound February 27 - Gasparilla Distance Classic with Operation Rebound March 13 - Jacksonville 15K with Operation Rebound April 25 - St Anthony's Tri with Operation Rebound May 8 - Gulf Coast Triathlon May 16 - Ironman 70.3 Orlando with Operation Rebound November 6, 2010 - Ironman Florida (2.4 mile Gulf swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run)
I hope you will donate to these deserving veterans. I will personally match any contribution you make up $750.00. You can go to my webpage to donate.
The web page is http://TeamCAFFlorida.kintera.org/drtom
Thanks so much,
Tom Murray
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Mike had tremendous success
Mike Youngblood had so much success in A Luoi, Viet Nam. In a short period of time he overcame the cultural differences and was able to create three micro-loan programs. The first was simple and his original goal. He delivered male and female pigs to the village.
He also identified a bomb crater to fish farm project started by the local village chief's son and helped build a few more. Finally he identified a sewing cooperative in need of sewing machines and helped them.
What a great trip!!!!!!!!
He also identified a bomb crater to fish farm project started by the local village chief's son and helped build a few more. Finally he identified a sewing cooperative in need of sewing machines and helped them.
What a great trip!!!!!!!!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Mike Youngblood returns to Viet nam
Early March 2009 will mark an important time for Think About the Children. Mike Youngblood, who was a member of the first Study Abroad in 2006, is returning to Viet Nam to creat a micro-loan program for each student's family in our A Luoi school.
Liz Henderson another student on the 2006 Study Abroad lives and teaches in Da Nang. She has found a USA NGO that arificially inseminates pigs. This is great for us and the A Luoi families. We have to buy only one pig. The families only have to feed one pig to get the litter of eight to twelve piglets.
With government approval, Mike will live in A Luoi and document the lives of our students and families. He'll be communicating with photos, TeacherTube videos, and Internet Video phone class to classrooms. What a great opportunity for USA students to see the plight of poor international students and then take the important step to do something about it.
Follow our blog in March to see Mike's progress. Thanks to all of the USA students who have funded Mike's work in addition to Mike's own very successful fundraising efforts.
Tom Murray
Liz Henderson another student on the 2006 Study Abroad lives and teaches in Da Nang. She has found a USA NGO that arificially inseminates pigs. This is great for us and the A Luoi families. We have to buy only one pig. The families only have to feed one pig to get the litter of eight to twelve piglets.
With government approval, Mike will live in A Luoi and document the lives of our students and families. He'll be communicating with photos, TeacherTube videos, and Internet Video phone class to classrooms. What a great opportunity for USA students to see the plight of poor international students and then take the important step to do something about it.
Follow our blog in March to see Mike's progress. Thanks to all of the USA students who have funded Mike's work in addition to Mike's own very successful fundraising efforts.
Tom Murray
Saturday, January 3, 2009
What a year 2008 was!!!!!!!!!
The year 2007 ended with my wife, son and fourteen College of Charleston students in Viet Nam working with orphans, doing food and hunger relief and making an effort to make a difference. Those College of Charleston students lives were changed as they did some special work.
During the next six months, Liz Henderson stayed behind to do Think About the Children's work. The cultural differences frustrated us all. I had to remind myself that Liz was young and just graduated from C of C. She was able to place a very small library at Ms Don's orphanage. With the help of West Hampton Beach High School she was able to get a large library built at Thuy Bang high school near Hue. Then our first school opened in A Luoi thanks to Vi's dad Dung.
You can see the little school, the kids and parents at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_osOmfi309Y
Liz is now working in VN as a teacher. She started as the principal and a teacher at the International school in Hue. Can you conceive of being a first year teacher 10,000 miles from home only to find out on your first day that you are also the principal. What an experience! She has now moved a few miles south to Da Nang and is teaching there at the sister International school. I wonder how many college students can accomplish so much so fast. It didn't come easy. There were many doubters, but Liz learned from her msitakes and kept moving forward. She has grown so much and her future of making a difference is so bright.
I'm training to do a lot of races this spring, summer and fall. It's been a while since I've worked out hard with a long term goal. My goal is to do 1/2 Ironman distance races two weekends in a row and then compete in a full Ironman race in late 2009 or 2010. I've entered the Ironman Hawaii Lottery. That's a shot in the dark, but I'd love to compete there for American veterans with serious combat injuries. I'm doing this for Operation Rebound Florida. This group helps combat veteran amputees find satisfaction in athletic competition. The funds raised help veterans with the expenses to compete as athletes again in spite of their injuries.
Please donate a few dollars at http://FloridaRFAR2009.kintera.org/drthomasemurray
My first race is the Disney Marathon on January 11. The other races stretch into the summer. This effort to help veterans brings the Think About the Children work full circle. We've helped Vietnamese kids and will continue to do so. We're now helping Americans combat veterans find a path to a rewarding life after serious life-changing injury.
We've applied for a Fulbright Grant to take teachers to VN in the summer of 2009. If we are funded it will be another step to connect USA teachers and students to VN teachers and students.
Happy New Year 2009.
During the next six months, Liz Henderson stayed behind to do Think About the Children's work. The cultural differences frustrated us all. I had to remind myself that Liz was young and just graduated from C of C. She was able to place a very small library at Ms Don's orphanage. With the help of West Hampton Beach High School she was able to get a large library built at Thuy Bang high school near Hue. Then our first school opened in A Luoi thanks to Vi's dad Dung.
You can see the little school, the kids and parents at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_osOmfi309Y
Liz is now working in VN as a teacher. She started as the principal and a teacher at the International school in Hue. Can you conceive of being a first year teacher 10,000 miles from home only to find out on your first day that you are also the principal. What an experience! She has now moved a few miles south to Da Nang and is teaching there at the sister International school. I wonder how many college students can accomplish so much so fast. It didn't come easy. There were many doubters, but Liz learned from her msitakes and kept moving forward. She has grown so much and her future of making a difference is so bright.
I'm training to do a lot of races this spring, summer and fall. It's been a while since I've worked out hard with a long term goal. My goal is to do 1/2 Ironman distance races two weekends in a row and then compete in a full Ironman race in late 2009 or 2010. I've entered the Ironman Hawaii Lottery. That's a shot in the dark, but I'd love to compete there for American veterans with serious combat injuries. I'm doing this for Operation Rebound Florida. This group helps combat veteran amputees find satisfaction in athletic competition. The funds raised help veterans with the expenses to compete as athletes again in spite of their injuries.
Please donate a few dollars at http://FloridaRFAR2009.kintera.org/drthomasemurray
My first race is the Disney Marathon on January 11. The other races stretch into the summer. This effort to help veterans brings the Think About the Children work full circle. We've helped Vietnamese kids and will continue to do so. We're now helping Americans combat veterans find a path to a rewarding life after serious life-changing injury.
We've applied for a Fulbright Grant to take teachers to VN in the summer of 2009. If we are funded it will be another step to connect USA teachers and students to VN teachers and students.
Happy New Year 2009.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Thuy Bang High School Library
This week Liz Henderson has been asked to make a statement at the Grand Opening of Thuy Bang High School Library. This library was funded in a partnership between Think About the Children and Global Village Foundation, Le Ly Haslip's new foundation working with rural schools in Viet Nam.
Le Ly is the original creator of East Meets West Foundation, the largest foundation functioning in Viet Nam, with millions of dollars funded each year. She also was the subject of a film titled When Heaven and Earth Changed Places. I'm not sure you can find a more influencial Vietnamese American lady.
We've taken the opportunity to fund a mobile library for A Loui. It will first go to the Primary school next to our Early Childhood Education Center. Then it will move to other Primary schools in the A Loui area.
Le Ly is the original creator of East Meets West Foundation, the largest foundation functioning in Viet Nam, with millions of dollars funded each year. She also was the subject of a film titled When Heaven and Earth Changed Places. I'm not sure you can find a more influencial Vietnamese American lady.
We've taken the opportunity to fund a mobile library for A Loui. It will first go to the Primary school next to our Early Childhood Education Center. Then it will move to other Primary schools in the A Loui area.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
This weekend was a special time. I received an email from Viet Nam plus pictures announcing that the school we have worked so hard to build in Viet Nam is now a reality. The village of A loui will be the location. The open space in the picture will be the location of our Early Childhood Education Center for kids prior to kindergarten. There is a primary school next door with 80 children.
Our original goal was to build in Quang Tri Province, on the old DMZ. The frustration eventualluy forced us to move our plan south a bit. Our contact was a very special man and his daughter Vi. We met these two through Doug Young. They have a farm near Hue. What a blessing this has been to meet these people.
I can't wait to post pictures of the school.
A Loui is west of Hue on the Laos border. The hills you see in the picture are in Laos.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
We had the opportunity to get a family picture recently. Cathy organized everyone for a beach photo while my mom was in town just before her 90th birthday.
Wendy, Richard, Brianna and Samantha are on the left. Chad is in the middle. Marcy, Chris, Dylan and Kylie Denny are on the right. My mom and sister are in the back with Cathy and me.
You can double click the photo to see a larger version.
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