It has been a really nice experience to find out that I was successful in making the top 25 nominees in Vegemites - "TOAST OF A NATION PROMOTION".
What a great honor it has been to be recognized amongst some of Australia's most outstanding people from all walks of life and a privilege that I entirely owe my dear friend Bryony.
She had asked some months ago if she could nominate me in "a competition" which I agreed to but really thought nothing of. I forwarded her the relevant information and left it at that.
With my busy schedule of juggling work, training and physio/rehab it was fast forgotten until three weeks ago were I was thrilled to find out that of over 700 entrants, I had made the top 25!
To Bryony I owe a special thanks because I generally find myself to preoccupied to ever spend the time on entering competitions like this.
The overall winner is determined by an online voting process and whoever collects the most votes wins a massive $10,000! (wow awesome). But reading further into the competition, I also noted potentially what a great opportunity this was to promote Para Taekwondo and Taekwondo.
The competition winner gets to tell some of their story as part of a promotional campaign. Generally I am quit a shy person and tend to avoid the spot light but I saw this as my opportunity to benefit other people. If I could tell my story to a greater number of people maybe I could inspire someone to follow in my footsteps or even pursue and realize their own dreams.
I really think that would be a worthy cause and my chance to give back to society.
When asked "what would you do with $10,000?" I took some time in responding. It is an awful lot of money and I couldn't really imagine spending it all on myself. In fact Im quite lucky in that I have a reasonably well paid job which allows me to live comfortably and do the things I love in life (Taekwondo, travel and go out for dinner).
I feel that this is another opportunity were I could help some people. There are two organizations that appeal to me and they are the Paralympics (they have been campaigning hard at my local supermarket to raise the necessary funds to send the Paralympic team to London) and Beyond Blue (provides support for people dealing with depression).
I value both as I have had to deal with over coming my injury and depression throughout the course of my life.
Though it is quite easy to see this is a marketing strategy by Vegemite (something I don't wholly support) I still view this as an opportunity to do some good. Thus far I have had support from:
- Bryony.
- My friends, family and associates.
- The Taekwondo community including Sport Taekwondo Australia, Taekwondo Australia, my club (Team Carlo), RMIT and Latrobe Taekwondo (Thanks to Quang and the team).
- Jols Martial Arts
- Limbs for Life
- The Benalla Ensign
and many people I have not even met. To all of you thank you, please continue the voting and support and hopefully in three weeks time I can share some more great news with you.
toan.tgarage.com.au/toast-of-a-nation-nominate.aspx?ID=567
Best Regards,
Steve
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