100 Women Who Care Annapolis is a group of local women who support Annapolis-area non-profits by pooling donations to create a larger impact and giving circle. They meet twice yearly. Each woman donates $100 to a local non-profit selected by vote at each meeting, totaling $10,000 for each of the two selected non-profits. They selected the Annapolis Dragon Boat Club at their February 2, 2023, meeting.
Thank you, 100 Women Who Care Annapolis.
Club members receiving a check for $10,000 from 100 Women Who Care Annapolis
We are here tonight, representing the Annapolis Dragon Boat Club. I’m sure most of you are asking, “What is a dragon boat, and why should I care?”
What is a dragon boat?
A dragon boat is 40 feet long with a dragon head and tail. It accommodates 20 paddlers plus a steersperson and drummer. It is a thing of true beauty and harmony when it skims across the water in silence and with all paddlers in unison.
For those who have read The Boys in the Boat, think The Girls in the Boat, and much better.
Why should I care?
The paddlers are breast cancer warriors, and the boat is our lifeline to rebuilding confidence, strength, and endurance during and after treatment for breast cancer.
In the 1990s, a Canadian sports medicine doctor believed that women in recovery from breast cancer would benefit from upper body activity. So he started a dragon boat team for women called Abreast in a Boat. This team led to an international movement for dragon boat racing among breast cancer survivors.
The sport’s rigor helps avoid lymphedema, a painful and challenging complication of breast cancer treatment. Beyond the clinical benefits, it also gives women with breast cancer a pathway to a new normal and a sense of hope that they’ll recover. Being on the water with fellow survivors is joyful. It does get better!
The Annapolis Dragon Boat Club was founded in 2010 by a man with breast cancer, Mike Ashford. Mike owned McGarvey’s Saloon and Oyster Bar. He is a legend in Annapolis.
What does the Club do?
The Club is more than a support group on the water. We execute our mission to promote the development of healthy bodies and spirits for breast cancer survivors by racing. We drill, practice, race, drill, practice, and race … and then do it all over again!
Dragon boat racing is like NASCAR on the water. Twenty women paddle like heck for 2 minutes or less in a 500-meter heat — or under 1 minute for the 200-meter races. Blink, and the race is over.
Four times a week, breast cancer warriors and our supporters go out on Spa Creek for 90 minutes of drills and practice. Our supporters are our paddle partners. They pace us. They encourage us. And they celebrate with us.
In April, we’ll represent Annapolis, MD, in the “Dragon Boat Olympics” in New Zealand. About 5,000 paddlers (all breast cancer warriors) from over 100 countries are coming together for the 2023 Dragon Boat Festival, which the International Breast Cancer Paddlers’ Commission holds every four years. That’ll be a lot of pink!
We’ll compete in races in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania throughout the summer.
What’s my personal connection?
I am a four-year breast cancer survivor. My daughter, Ashley, is also a breast cancer survivor. We were diagnosed within one month of each other. One diagnosis led to the other. We saved each other’s lives.
The Annapolis Dragon Boat Club has been a source of physical and emotional healing for us. It has brought us great joy, something we thought we had lost forever — four years ago.
How will the Club use the funds?
With your support, we can expand our outreach efforts to underserved communities. If we’re selected to receive the funds, we’ll direct them to the Brigitte Wallace McKee Bosom Buddies Fund. This fund supports need-based financial support to individuals with breast cancer who want to join the Annapolis Dragon Boat Club. In addition, we want to reach at-risk women and communities of color to get them out on the boats with us.
In 2019, 2,223 women in Anne Arundel County were diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the County Health Department. We currently have 150 members in the Club, about half warriors and half supporters.
Clearly, we have more work to do to reach our fellow warriors in Anne Arundel County.
—Barb Witten, ADBC member
