Mississippi Challenge 2014

On the 1st August 2014 Rotarian Ken Robertshaw and former RYLA awardee Grace Alsancak set off to kayak the entire length of the Mississippi River from its source in Lake Itasca, Minnesota to the southern tip of Louisiana where it discharges into the Gulf of Mexico.

Ken Robertshaw is a 58 year old retired Police Inspector and a member of the Rotary Club of Halifax. This is not his first charity challenge as he has previously driven large lorries across Europe delivering aid to Romania, been involved in delivering aid to a hospital in Tanzania and has driven a dog sled team across the arctic regions of Norway, Finland and Sweden.  As well as supporting the Theodora Children’s Charity he hopes to raise the profile of Rotary International and its members by showing that an ordinary bloke can do things normally associated with athletes and celebrities with support crews and strong financial backing.

Grace Alsancak is a 22 year old Masters student at Leeds Metropolitan University where she is studying Sports Coaching.  Grace has previously been a student on the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, a course designed to increase leadership potential in young people, and has also been part of an International exchange between the UK and Sweden, organised by Rotary International in the two countries.

She has previously climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for charity and undertook the Mississippi challenge to thank Rotary for the opportunities she has had, as well as to support the Theodora Children’s Charity.