Dragon boat floats to Israel, Initiative to provide funding for Israeli charities

Posted Feb 2, 2012 By Jennifer McIntosh

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Ottawa residents will be sailing away to the Holy Land in May thanks to an Israeli dragon boat initiative.

Debbie Halton-Weiss, chair of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa came up with the idea after participating in last year's Dragon Boat festival in the capital. The team she participated with was called the lions and managed to raise the third-highest amount of money for charity of the 195 teams participating in the race.

"I liked that it was so inclusive, that you don't have to be a great athlete to do it," Halton-Weiss said. "It's something that really brings the community together."

It was with that in mind, coupled with her love of Israel, that led Halton-Weiss to look into the possibility of holding a similar event there with the help of contacts with the International Dragon Boat Federation and a host of volunteers.

The dream was to get 10 teams from North America and 10 from Israel. Reality has doubled that.

There will be 20 teams heading to the Sea of Galilee from North America, with seven of those team coming from Ottawa. There will be 20 teams from Israel participating as well.

"We were just overwhelmed by the response," Halton-Weiss said.

The boats for the race, which is to take place May 17 and 18, landed in Haifa, Israel, from China in December.

Halton-Weiss was overseas in November, helping her counterparts with United Israel Appeal Canada to organize the festival.

Each boat will have 20 paddlers, one steerperson and one drummer - whose beat encourages the team to go faster.

Because Israel has never hosted a dragon boat festival, the first day in May will be dedicated to training, while the second will be for the races.

Organizers are expecting 2,000 people to attend.

Aside from the charities the initiative will support, it's also a wonderful opportunity for people to experience Israel, Halton-Weiss said.

"They will be able to get really immersed in the culture in a way that can't do without the team sport aspect."

Halton-Weiss, who manages her husband's medical practice, said that more than 140 people would be making the trip from Ottawa.

She said the effort was due to "thinking outside the box," by JFO volunteers to get new groups to go to Israel.

Among the new groups visiting will be a number of breast cancer survivors.

Dragon Boat Israel has chosen two organizations doing work with disadvantaged youth in Israel to benefit from the fundraising component of the festival.

Youth Futures provides mentoring services to about 7,000 disadvantaged young people.

Net@, the other organization to benefit, trains disadvantaged high school students in high-tech and leadership, which provides opportunities for them in Israeli defense forces.

The JFO is organizing an extended tour of adventure activities in Israel from May 10 to 20. Which includes attendance in the country's first Dragon Boat Festival.

For more information visit www.dragonboatisrael.com.




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