Innovapost

Dragonboat Festival

WE ARE INNOVABOAT!! I say “Innova” You say “Boat” … “INNOVA!!” innovaboat-crew

Innovapost entered team “InnovaBoat” in the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival for the 5th year running. The charity event took place June 21 and 22 at Mooney’s Bay in Ottawa, and saw over 190 teams, representing corporate and community groups, participate in the race weekend.

The InnovaBoat team had three practices and ran two races, with our performance definitely improving every time we took the boat out. The 22-member crew did Innovapost proud by placing 12th in the High Tech Challenge Cup, and 152nd overall.

A big thank you to everyone who helped raise funds through a bake sale, 50-50 tickets, and raffle for a Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins jersey. Together, we raised a total of $1,330, which helped push the festival’s total to an all-time high of $320,000 (with funds still coming in).

Also a big thank you to the team organizers, all the paddlers, and to the Innovapost Community and Charitable Events Committee, who contributed more than half the cost of our participation this year.

The Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival is North America’s largest Dragon Boat Race and is a yearly highlight of the Ottawa festival season. 2009 brought out dozens of race teams, tens of thousands of visitors, and many worthy charities including:

  • Ottawa Senators Foundation & Roger’s House
  • The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health
  • OCRI School Breakfast Program
  • Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario
  • Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Program
  • Algonquin College Foundation
  • Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre
  • Good Day Workshop