Honourary Chair

L-R: Janice Barresi, Executive Director, Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa Charitable Foundation; Nadia MacDonald, Tim Hortons Regional Marketing Manager-Eastern ON; Kanata South Councillor Allan Hubley, Honourary Chair, Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation; Sandy Foote, Chair, Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation; John Brooman, Executive Director, Festival & Foundation; were all smiles during the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation Launch on March 6.

THIS IS WHY WE PADDLE

COUNCILLOR HUBLEY AND THE OTTAWA DRAGON BOAT FOUNDATION LAUNCH 2012 FUNDRAISING SEASON

OTTAWA, March 6, 2012 – Today, the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation introduced Kanata South Councillor Allan Hubley as honourary chair for the 2012 fundraising season. With his first official act in the new role, Councillor Hubley expressed support of the Foundation and their new tier one charity, Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa. “I’m committed to doing everything in my power to ensure that when a young person reaches out for help…the help is there. Through this work, I have become an ardent supporter of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa and in particular their Youth Mental Health Walk-In Clinic” said Councillor Hubley. “I am so incredibly proud to serve as the 2012 Honorary Chair for the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation and encourage the entire community to rally behind our fundraising efforts.”

Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation Board Chair, Sandy Foote enthusiastically told the supportive audience made up of select dragon boat team leaders, top fundraisers and representatives of the seven charity benefactors, “As a social enterprise we are committed to achieving our philanthropic goals through the annual pledge challenge and are excited to announce our 2012 fundraising goal of $500,000.” Executive Director, John Brooman added, “We have tremendous partners in the community and have seen the strength of their commitment demonstrated year after year. Last year we successfully exceeded our fundraising goal of $350,000 and to date, through the efforts of our paddlers, we have raised $2,483,000 to support local charities”.

A heart-felt performance of “On My Way To Finding You” by Ottawa-based country artist, Drake Jensen, was an emotional reminder of the challenges faced by people in all walks of life and was the perfect introduction for a call of support for the Foundation’s seven designated charities.

About the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation

In 1998, a charitable component was added to the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival raising funds for local charities on an annual basis. The Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation was established in 2003 to help focus and grow the level of community support. As of 2011, a total of $2,483,000 has been raised through the annual Pledge Challenge, and those funds have benefiting over 28 Ottawa area charities. For more information, visit www.dragonboatfoundation.net, www.facebook.com/ottawadragonboat, www.twitter.com/ottdragonboat.

About the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival

The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is a community based, not-for-profit event that began in 1993 as a small one day event that has now grown into a three day celebration of the arts, sports, culture and heritage. Currently in its 19th year the festival is recognized as North America’s largest dragon boating event with 190 teams in corporate, community and competitive categories. For the first time in it’s history the Festival will extend programming on each day of the event introducing various new components including a new Friday night opening ceremony, new Parade of Champions, an additional day of racing, brand new Friday and Saturday late night headline events. The festival offers FREE admission to multiple stages with world class entertainment, amusement attractions, extreme sports demonstrations, a variety of artisans, exhibitors, delicious culinary treats, main tent beer garden, a new beach side bar, endless family fun with the Tim Hortons Children’s Area and non-stop racing.

For more information, visit www.dragonboat.net, www.facebook.com/ottawadragonboat, www.twitter.com/ottdragonboat.

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Honourary Ambassadors ~ 2009-2011

"Erin and I are so proud to be named honorary co-chairs of the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation. The Foundation and Festival have provided much needed support for very worthwhile charitable organizations in our region," said Chris Phillips.

“It is an added bonus for us that the Sens Foundation has committed funds raised this year to Project S.T.E.P., a fundraising campaign that Erin and I also support. We would like to thank all the paddlers and donors at this year's Festival. Your contributions will help one out of every six youth in our community struggling with drug abuse."

Click Here to learn more and  watch a video about Chris and Erin’s commitment to Project S.T.E.P.