35-foot floodwaters devastate Manayunk Dragon Boat Team's boats

Solid rain upriver brought floodwater to a 35-foot high on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia this past Friday. When the floodwater crested at 3pm, despite the dragonboat team's efforts to save the dock and boats, the rising waters caused damage to the docks and destroyed five boats, leaving a sixth extremely damaged hanging 25 feet up in a tree.

With the kind assistance of USA Canoe and Kayak (USACK), The Manayunk Dragon Boat Disaster Fund has been established for those wishing to make donations in order to help rebuild; the docking mechanisms along with six boats will need to be repaired or replaced in order to continue dragonboat programming.

Four of the six boats which were swept away by the rising water were boats which the NE Region of Dragon Boat USA (based in Manayunk) and Mr. Zhongi Luo of the Dalian Qianlong Aquatic Sports Development LTD donated to the Cradle of Liberty Council of The Boy Scouts of America just this past July. This loss greatly jeopardizes all the plans set in place for the development of Dragon Boat to the youth within Boy Scouts which is being used as a model to be duplicated so both boys and girls across the country can enjoy paddle sports and learn life long team building skills.

Funds raised from The Manayunk Dragon Boat Disaster Fund will be used to replace, rebuild and forge the programs forward to achieve the goal of introducing boys and girls to the sport of Dragon Boat along the Schuylkill River in Manayunk.

You can make a donation one of the following ways:

Checks:

Checks can be made payable to Manayunk Dragon Boat and sent to:

The Manayunk Dragon Boat Disaster Fund
3 Minshall Circle
Glen Mills, PA 19342

OR payable to USACK and sent to:

USACK
CO: The Manayunk Dragon Boat Disaster Fund
330 S. Tryon Street. Lower Level
Charlotte, NC 28202

Credit Cards will also be accepted. Please Contact Gerald Babao of USACK:

704-348-4330 Ext 225
Gerald@USACK.org

Visit www.manayunkDBracing.org or www.usack.org to learn more.