What an awesome day! The temp was moderate – not too hot, not too cold. The wind was furry – gusts up to 40 and everything in between. Participation was high.
There was a successful first-ever 2 hour Stand-Up Paddleboard Event/Race, “Stand 4 Something”, in spite of the choppy water. That was definatly something to watch.
The kiteboarders were in it to win the endurance aspect of the kiteboarding event. At 20-30 minutes/lap many participants kited non-stop for the entire time, 6 hours, several came in for only a few short refueling breaks, and others were sane and did what they could for as long as they could manage it.
Team Irv, made of 2nd Wind Sports/Urban Flora, made a respectful presence on the water and in the fundraising aspect. Jason Wynn of Urban Flora won 1st place for raising the most funds for KB4C. His excellent story on his KB4C Athlete Profile explaining his motivation for participating in KB4C surely helped him. As of today he has raised $2545.00 for KB4C. At this time, I haven’t heard a final tally of how much was raised to date.
Team Irv placed 2nd for Most Number of Laps among the teams. Irv Stein, the individual the Team was kiting in honor for, was an influence for the teams success. Not only were they all motivated by his personal story alone, Irv also put in a few laps himself – makes you feel like a wimp if you give up after seeing that. While on the beach, Irv made sure they kept going. A story Pepi tells is that he came in because he was overpowered, it was late in the day, and he didn’t have anything smaller ready to kite. Just when he was considering packing it in, Irv clapped him on the back, told Pepi to take his 9m and sent him back out.
The group shot of Team Irv receiving their 2nd place accolades has Nate, Irv – the honoree, Jason and Pepi plus their assorted children. Anna isn’t pictured, unfortunatly. She had to hustle off to her other job (can’t imagine being her last night).
KB4C benefits several groups all of which are in the northwest; CHAP (Children’s Healing Art Project) in Portland, OR, the Celilo Cancer Center in The Dalles, OR, The Next Door, Inc. (to benefit their breast cancer awareness program) in Hood River, OR, and the Children’s Hospital in Seattle, WA. This year the John Wayne Cancer Foundation will match all contributions given to these agencies from KB4C!
CHAP has been present at all the KB4C events in Hood River and offers activities for the kids of spectators and participants to do during the day. They have a traveling car for kids to paint whatever they want and they provide smocks so the kids don’t look any worse for their fun. They also put the kids to work finishing the decorations on the prizes for the athletes.
CHAP impressed me thoroughly as they not only go around to the fundraisers but they have an Art Factory in Portland for kids to come during the week to do art activities for $5/hour/kid. They also host birthday parties. On the other end of things, they are in hospitals offering art projects for the kids who are patients battling cancer. They find ways to help the kids find ways through art and humor to express what they are going through to their peers. Even better yet, they have found a way to provide royalties to the artists for any of their artwork that is appreciated and printed into cards and t-shirts. These royalties help the families pay for the costly treatments. For more info on CHAP go to their webpage at www.chap.name
KB4C found ways throughout the day to continue raising funds, not just through the online donation screen. Parking fees at the Event Site were waived but you are encouraged to make a donation for parking. All the money paid for food sold at KB4C was donated. Money from the silent auction, raffle, and traditional auction was donated. I don’t know yet, what the final tally is for this years KB4C and SUP4C but am impressed by how they packed in the opportunities to donate. If you are so inclined, you can still donate to KB4C. Check out the website and click on Donate (www.KB4C.org).
All in all, it was a fantastic day! Thanks for the fun times. Looking forward to seeing you at the Event Site next year!
When : Nov 21 (doors open at 5:30pm, main features begin around 6pm)
