Celebrating the fifth annual Cardboard Boat Race

This year marks the Family & Children’s Service of Ithaca (F&CS) fifth annual Cardboard Boat Race, the first and only cardboard boat race on Cayuga Lake. The event, which was held Sunday, Sept. 10, at the Ithaca Yacht Club raised over $58,840. This is 91% of their $65,000 goal. A live donation tracker can be viewed online at https://www.givegab.com/campaigns/cbr2023.

The funds raised help support mental healthcare and related social services for individuals and families in Tompkins County. This is F&CS‘ only fundraising event of the year.

“With many teams from local businesses, high school sports teams, kids and adults, there’s categories for everyone,” said Michelle Thevenin, F&CS’ new director of development. By Sept. 8, there were 42 boats registered for the race. Of these, 4 were high school student boats and 9 were youth boats.

Participants are challenged to build full-sized boats out of cardboard, duct tape, glue and rope, and then climb aboard their vessels to paddle around a floating racecourse in the harbor of the Ithaca Yacht Club. Crossing the finish line is a secondary goal for many participants.

“We needed a new fundraiser after retiring our successful 20-year event called Cayuga Twilight. One of our board members, Brian Warren of Warren Real Estate, sheepishly suggested a cardboard boat race and after some research we all thought it would be such a fun idea,” said Victoria John, the former development coordinator. This is John’s last year organizing and running the event before fully passing on the responsibilities. “So, my husband and I drove over to Watkins Glen, because they have a huge, really awesome cardboard race. I came away from that event with some ideas in my head and was ready to get to work on our event which has become this annual and really fun community event for everyone.”

The creativity of the boats is always a highlight, with prizes awarded not just for the fastest boats in youth, high school, and adult categories, but also for the spectators’ favorite boat—and yes, even for “Most Spectacular Sinking.” Past years’ boats have included a replica Titanic that intentionally split apart during the race, a horse-drawn chariot, a floating army tank, a classic VW bus, and even a giant shark mouth made to look like it was surging out of the water to eat the crew.

“You can buy little bags of blue stones and walk around and look at all the boats and you put stones in the buckets of the boat that you liked the best. At the end, all the stones are counted and then there’s an award given for the People’s Choice vote,” John said. “That’s always really fun. People get excited about that. There are also prizes for the fastest elapsed time for the adults, high school and youth categories. Of course, the big crowd pleaser is the most sensational sinking, so people love to vote on that and I’ll say there are some really good ones.”

Part of what makes the Cardboard Boat Race so special is that it encourages participants to let loose and embrace something truly silly. Everyone knows what happens when cardboard and water mix. Sooner or later, you end up with something soggy, floppy, and definitely not meant to support weight. You don’t have to be athletic, or an engineer to take part and it encourages community building.

F&CS said in a press release that “although mental health care is often covered by insurance, many providers in private practice don’t accept insurance, leaving individuals to navigate complex insurance reimbursement on their own. The non-profit has a policy of accepting all insurance coverage, and works with clients who can’t afford out-of-pocket costs, or who have high-deductible insurance plans so that anyone who needs services can access them, regardless of financial status. Family & Children’s representatives also shared that even when insurance covers an appointment, it rarely covers the full cost of care, a financial burden the agency has to make up through fundraising efforts each year.”
John added that this event is made great, in part, by the generosity of their Tompkins County sponsors. This year’s admiral sponsor was Community Federal Credit Union (CFCU). For the full list of sponsors, visit https://www.fcsith.org/events/cbr/. She said that the Ithaca and broader community is “incredibly supportive of us and our mission to serve the community through mental health.”

“Everything we raise goes into our general fund, which we use for anything and everything when it comes to our services, and we fundraise about 10% of our budget each year. That’s about half $1 million,” Thevenin said. “That doesn’t all come from this one event, although the race is our only big event. The rest comes in from donations and smaller things throughout the year, but we always appreciate how much community support the boat race gets and it’s such a fun thing to participate in or even just watch.”

For those that don’t want to get wet, the event always has plenty of other options Event tickets included free food and a drink from Luna Catering, voting tokens for the ‘People’s Choice Best Boat’ award, and this year there were multiple items donated by local businesses raffled off at the event.

“I feel so proud to be a part of this event because of the wonderful people at F&CS and their dedication to community and valuable mental health services. They’re so committed to high quality service,” John concluded.

For more information about the boat race, other events and F&CS, visit https://www.fcsith.org/events/cbr/. This event takes place annually so folks who missed registration this year are encouraged to keep an eye out for next year’s dates.