Dragon boats give back

As this year’s participants of The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York (HKDBF-NY) will receive thousands of dollars for the charities of their choice, the city begins to prepare for next year’s boat race.

On behalf of the HKDBF-NY 2013 Charity Boat Race, which took place on August 11, participants’ $7,500 will be awarded to the charities of their choice. This year’s race included teams from HSBC Bank USA, DCH Auto Group and Shanghai Commercial Bank LTD. Each company contributed $2,500.

DCH Auto Group, this year’s Charity Boat Race winner, receives $3,500, half of the funds raised, and will donate the money to the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center. Runner-up HSBC Bank receives $2,000 for the Chinatown YMCA, and second runner-up Shanghai Commercial Bank gets $2,000 for the Museum of Chinese in America.

The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York is an annual sporting event and largest multi-cultural celebration in New York which takes place over two days in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. It is also the biggest festival of its kind in the country.

This year’s race attracted 188 teams to participate, the largest number of teams in the past 23 years, with 2,500 participants competing.

The tentative dates for the 2014 Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival will be an opening day parade on Saturday, August 9 and the U.S. Dragon Boat Open Championship Race on Sunday, August 10.

RECOMMENDED STORIES