Paddlers instrumental in raising $20,000 for Special Olympics Canada - October 5th, 2011

Paddlers instrumental in raising $20,000 for Special Olympics Canada

October 3, 2011

OTTAWA – After competing vigorously in volleyball, basketball, soccer baseball, ball hockey and dragonboat, the only score any of the nine participating teams seemed to remember from Saturday’s Motionball event was the $20,000 raised for Special Olympics Canada.

Motionball events currently run in six Canadian cities and are aimed at introducing the younger generation to the Special Olympics movement through integrated social and sporting events. Since its inception in 2002 in Toronto, Motionball has raised over $2.2 million for Special Olympics Canada.

“The goal of the event is to have fun and share the love for sports with the participants and the Special Olympians,” said event organizer Christine Bain. “Even though there is a winner at the end of each game, each participant who contributed towards the total amount of funds raised a considered a winner in this true Marathon of Sports.”

For the second year in a row, Ryan Cuthbert, Ian Mortimer and Christine Bain organized the Ottawa Motionball event at the Rideau Canoe Club. Paddlers from across Ontario made up the bulk of the event. Each Motionball team of ten includes two Special Olympians, and unique to the Ottawa event, each team is also assigned an Olympic paddler.

Olympians in attendance included Mark Oldershaw (Burlington, ON), Kristi Gauthier (Ottawa, ON), Steven Jorens (Richmond Hill, ON),  Gabriel Beauchesne-Sevigny (Trois-Rivieres, QC), Emilie Fournel (Montreal, QC), Thomas Hall (Montreal, QC), Chris Pellini (Mississauga, ON), Rhys Hill (Ottawa, ON), Mylanie Barre (Lac-Beauport, QC) and Angus Mortimer (Ottawa, ON) who spent the day DJing the music to set the perfect atmosphere for this fun event.

All nine teams surpassed their team goals of $1,000 after putting in tremendous fundraising efforts over the past several weeks. Together they collected a total of $20,000 worth of pledges to be donated to the Special Olympics Ontario.

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