Inspiring Hope

For just $100, you or your business can become a sponsor of the 2024 Pink Paddle Pickleball Tournament to benefit Prairie Dragon Paddlers.

Order a variety of flowers, herbs and vegetables by April 30 from Country Arbors Nursery to support Prairie Dragon Paddlers during its spring fundraiser. Order and pay online at https://countryarbors.com/events/pdp-spring24. Pick-up is May 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the nursery, 1742 County Road 1400 North in Urbana, Ill. Thank you for your support!

Prairie Dragon Paddlers is hosting its annual Welcome Breakfast on Saturday, March 2, to kick off a new season and introduce any breast cancer survivors interested in joining the team to find out more information.

Prairie Dragon Paddlers is sponsoring a free wellness talk starting at 6 p.m., March 6, at the Champaign Public Library for all breast cancer survivors and supporters in the local area.

PDP presents its first Kelly Bradham Gratitude Award to honor and thank those who contribute to the fight against breast cancer and help the community of survivors to thrive.

Prairie Dragon Paddlers will be making its team debut on the world stage at the 2023 International Dragon Boat Festival from April 10-16 in New Zealand.

Many thanks to our friends at Champaign Jewelers for designating Prairie Dragon Paddlers as the recipient of their monthly charity collection earlier this year.

PDP Coach Debi Bliss was featured June 6 on WCIA 3 News in the central Illinois viewing area in recognition of National Cancer Survivors Day.

Keith Rice, owner of Bodyworks of Paris, was kind enough to repair our boat, Hope, after recent storms knocked the boat off its trailer near Homer Lake and caused some minor damage.

Severe storms in the overnight hours of May 8 caused our beloved dragon boat, named Hope, to fly off the trailer where it is stored near Homer Lake. Upon its discovery the next morning, Coach Debi put out a call to the team – on Mother’s Day, no less – to assist in helping get the 900-pound boat back onto its trailer.

After a canceled 2020 season, the Prairie Dragon Paddlers are back on the water for 2021, thanks to a new Safety Plan of procedures and requirements implemented by the Board of Directors and vetted with local public health authorities.

Like most activities and plans amid the Covid-19 global pandemic, the 2020 PDP season was canceled. Not to be discouraged while being relegated to land, the team still found ways to stay active and connected.

The Daily Illini student newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign featured the Prairie Dragon Paddlers in this article by staff writer Gwyn Skiles in December 2020, revealing the camaraderie and support shared among the team members.

Paddlers and board members Pat Lacey and Marilyn Pollard packaged 128 hats for chemo patients. A friend of Marilyn’s sister, Ellen, knitted all of them, and PDP helped facilitate their donation to Christie Clinic’s Cancer Center in Champaign.

Each year, the Prairie Dragon Paddlers look forward to participating in a fundraising event hosted by one of their sponsors, Kirby Medical Center in Monticello.

The Prairie Dragon Paddlers Breast Cancer Research Fund was established in 2018 at the Cancer Center at Illinois on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Read more about the Prairie Dragon Paddlers in this article by Bridget Broihahn that was published in At Home in Central Illinois early on in PDP’s history.