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Kim and Chris Tart founded Hope Floats NC, a nonprofit organization that combines kayaking with their hope of raising cancer awareness. Kim Tart is a cancer survivor.
Kim Hasty
LILLINGTON - The doctors, Kim Tart realized, most likely had a point. They told her that she needed to reduce the stress in her life.
It didn't take much time out on the water before she realized this was a good place to start. The gently lapping water, the birds singing, the fish splashing - sounds that eclipsed the hectic noise of everyday life.
"No cellphones, no computers,'' she said. "When I'm out on the water, I'm relaxed and stress-free.''
So it is that she and her husband Chris, a lifelong water enthusiast, founded Hope Floats NC, a nonprofit organization that combines their love for the sport of kayaking with their hope of raising awareness of cancer.
Founded after Kim Tart's successful recovery from a battle with thyroid cancer in 2009, the group's latest endeavor is the nine-day, 225-mile kayaking trip they are planning for April on the Neuse River from Raleigh to Beaufort. Their team consists of 14 dedicated paddlers, all trying to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
One team member is a Fort Bragg-based soldier who is in remission for a third time with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Three are American Red Cross volunteers with the Highlands Chapter in Fayetteville. Two others are cancer survivors, and another is the dean of the College of Natural Resources at N.C. State.
"Cancer has affected all of us,'' Kim Tart said.
But for her, the diagnosis was particularly perplexing. She had no family history of cancer and she'd been healthy for most of her life, until fall 2008. That's when she developed flu-like symptoms she couldn't seem to overcome.
A routine physical the following spring turned up a nodule on her neck. Within a week, she was undergoing surgery and cancer treatment.
"They caught it very early, and it was very treatable,'' Chris Tart said. "But she realized that 30 years ago, she wouldn't have survived. We're looking to help other people survive.''
Kim Tart works full time with the Department of Public Safety. Doctors told her that reducing stress would make her recovery more successful.
Thankful for the promise of a full recovery, she decided to take them up on their advice - and help others at the same time.
The Hope Floats NC team will start its journey in Raleigh, then paddle through six eastern North Carolina counties en route to Beaufort. Along the way, they'll set up camp in various towns along the Neuse to draw awareness to their venture.
Chris, a veteran of long kayak trips, said it will cost $17 each for meals and transporting gear, but team members are paying for their expenses themselves. All money raised goes to the American Cancer Society.
Anyone who wishes to contribute can go to hopefloatsnc.org and click on the entire team or an individual team member and make a donation.
To make it 225 miles, the pace will need to be steady, but not so brisk that they won't be able to enjoy the sights and sounds along the way. Special events are planned for each stop, including a bluegrass band and the lighting of luminarias in honor of cancer survivors and victims.
"I am so excited,'' Kim Tart said. "I never thought it would come to this. All of a sudden, it's just around the corner.''