Meet the men walking 2,740 km to raise money for Camp Quality
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Walking 2,740 km in 70 days – this is the challenge that Edward Orszulak and Sebastian Boehm have set themselves.
It might sound like an epic trek, but for the Australian Army Major and ACT Fire and Rescue Firefighter, it’s the least they can do to support families impacted by cancer.
Setting off from New Farm Park, Brisbane this past July with the goal of reaching The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne on Monday 30 September, it’s all to raise money for ED’S Biggest Big Walk for Little Kids.
When I talk to Ed, it’s the morning after the duo has just completed a 44-kilometre walk from Bungendore to Parliament House – day 46 of the big walk.
Joking that both of them have ‘decent’ blisters and lost toenails, with 24 days to go, Ed is sounding positive about achieving their goal. Because to Ed and Seb, this walk is nothing compared to what kids and their families going through cancer experience.
“Five years ago, at a Camp Quality planning dinner, they were trying to work out what things they could do for the next year. Seb went over to another good mate of ours – Dave – and said ‘I want to do some big fundraising for Camp Quality, let’s walk from Canberra to Melbourne.’ And Dave, being the guy he was, said ‘That’s not big enough. If we’re going to do something, it’s going to be big’…that’s where the idea all started from,” explains Ed.
With almost two decades of volunteering at Camp Quality between them, Ed and Seb are passionate about the support the organisation provides. But ED’S Biggest Big Walk is also close to their hearts for another reason.
Not long after the idea formed, Dave Finney – who was a member of the Royal Australian Navy – lost his battle with PTSD.
Walking in memory of Dave and the other amazing volunteers at Camp Quality, to pay tribute Ed and Seb have created a route that takes them through regional areas to meet Camp Quality families, also giving them a chance to tell their story.
“We know the volunteer side. We know what the stats say, but we haven’t lived it from a family’s point of view, as someone who has a kid going through all of that. So having a family to be able to tell their story is important,’ says Ed.
“It’s very humbling. The families that come out and greet us and share their stories, the feeling I get is that they are extremely grateful for the support that Camp Quality gave them in a pretty dark time…It makes you rethink your priorities and what’s really important to you.”
Aiming to raise $250,000 for Camp Quality, Ed says the figure was chosen for one simple reason – that if anything were to happen to the donors and sponsors who support the foundation, there would be enough money to continue to assist the Camp Quality families for a full year.
Ed says that he and Seb don’t know if they’ll do something like ED’S Biggest Big Walk for Little Kids again in the future. But no matter what happens, they plan on continuing to give to the community.
“ED’S Big Walk and our website edsbigimpact.au stands for Ed, Dave, and Seb because we wanted to make sure Dave was connected with this walk. It was really him that got us to think about going big and we wanted to have some kind of lasting impact,” says Ed.
“Veterans’ mental health, mental health, and homelessness are all other charities we find ourselves drawn to as well as Camp Quality. So, what this morphs into, we’re not sure yet. But it’ll definitely have an aspect of giving back to the community.”
Keep an eye on edsbigimpact.au to follow Ed and Seb’s live tracker and donate to the ED’S Big Walk at fundraise.campquality.org.au
Images supplied.
