Thousands of paddlers are raising thousands of dollars this weekend at Mooney's Bay, and looking fierce while doing it.
The 18th annual Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival isn't only the biggest dragon boat festival in North America, but also gives teams a chance to rally for their favourite causes.
Cindy Toffanello and her team raised money for four-year-old Isla, who was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago.
"She came to our practices and put princesses on our paddles. . . We were in the top ten that year," she said. "Isla is cancer free and we're really proud of her. She motivated us to raise a lot of money."
Around 70,000 are expected to visit Mooney's Bay over the weekend to support the 5,000 paddlers and their fundraising efforts.
"There's 50/50 raffles, there's wine raffles, there's cookie bake-offs," said Pam Ramsay, pledge captain for the Singapoor Slings team. "There are all kinds of things that people are doing besides just asking for volunteer donations."
The goal for the weekend is $350,000 for charities like the CHEO Foundation, ArtsSmart and the Ottawa Humane Society.
"Anytime you have large amounts of people, opportunities exist, and people want to give back," said Jennifer Mackiddie, co-ordinator of the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation. "They want to have fun for themselves, but they want to give back. Why not give them that opportunity?"
Since the festival began fundraising in 1998, that opportunity to give back has resulted in over $2.1 million raised for 28 local charities.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Stefanie Masotti
