Since the club’s beginning in 2008, there has always been a focus on giving back to the community that we love. The breast cancer survivor community has always had a large presence in the dragon boating world, and our club has been supporting the local initiative since 2009. We are also available to host team building activities with your club, company or organization.
GIVING BACK
Through various youth programs and participation in the yearly “Baltimore Floatilla for a Healthy Harbor”, our club takes pride in involving ourselves with causes that are important to us. Our contribution to the biennial Dragon Boat Festival, hosted by Catholic Charities at the Inner Harbor, has increased dramatically since it started in 1996. This festival serves as a major fundraiser, not just for Catholic Charities, but for the many partner programs that each participating team chooses. We’re always looking for ways to expand our presence in the community.
If you have a specific cause or program that might be a good fit for our club, please contact us.
TEAM BUILDING
When you work together as a team, you can accomplish so much more than you can by yourself. There’s no better example of this than getting in a dragon boat and working with your fellow paddlers to propel the boat forward. If everyone is paddling at their own speed and with their own technique, the boat will not move very quickly. It’s only when everyone is paddling at the same rate, with a synchronized stroke, that the boat performs like an efficient machine. This example of teamwork can be applied to many different scenarios in the workplace and other areas of life. The BDBC coaches are happy to work with your group to get them into a dragon boat, go over the stroke, and help them perform in unison. The lessons learned are invaluable, and you might even have a lot of fun along the way!
Check out our Team Building page here to learn more about team building rates and scheduling.
BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS
In September 2010, Kerri Bliss and Barbara Van de Castle wrote a Komen community grant for BDBC to help build community awareness of Dragon Boating as a sport option for breast cancer survivors. The $10,000 grant obtained helped secure the purchase of equipment and the club’s first dragon boat. We held our first open BCS paddle in October of 2009, and the video from that paddle can be found above.
Dragon Boating is the Preferred Exercise!
Everyone needs to have an exercise that is enjoyable and is done regularly. It is a well-known fact that physical activity can keep you healthy, but the sport of Dragon Boating has many advantages for breast cancer survivors. They include improving arm strength (both on operated side and non-operated side), decreasing the risk of arm lymphedema, and providing an opportunity for psycho-social interaction, overall health improvement, and general social support. What we also know about cancer risk reduction is that exercising regularly, keeping a healthy diet/weight, and limiting alcohol intake have been shown to decrease cancer risk. However, we know that people can still get cancer, even if you are a healthy individual. One in every eight women will get breast cancer. The American Cancer Society’s statistics from 2017 show estimated new cases of breast cancer to be 255,180 (240 in men and 252,710 in women), verifying that breast cancer is not going away. We can decrease the numbers by keeping physically active, and Dragon Boating is an excellent way to do this!
Dragon Boating for breast cancer survivors started as a pilot study with Dr. D. McKenzie looking at reduction of lymphedema in breast cancer survivors while exercising in a dragon boat. This study ignited the breast cancer community around the globe. In 2018, a total of 129 breast cancer survivor teams from all over the world participated in a 3-day Dragon Boat Festival in Florence, Italy. Please join us in maintaining your physical activity and overall health improvement!
CONTACT US
If you have any ideas for or are interested in getting involved in community relations projects, team building events or our breast cancer survivor initiatives, we'd love to hear from you.
info@baltimoredragonboatclub.com
P.O. Box 4583, Timonium, Maryland 21094