(HELENA) On Saturday, people got on the water in some unusual boats, to raise money for a good cause.
Spring Meadow Resources held its 21st annual Cardboard Cup Regatta at Spring Meadow Lake State Park. Eleven teams put together boats with hulls made entirely of cardboard. They then raced each other, paddling them across the lake with varying degrees of success.
“It’s a great time to get out and have fun in the water, watch the boats float, watch them sink, watch the kids have fun, some of the residents have fun,” said Spring Meadow Resources executive director James Bissett.
With good weather in the area, Bissett said they saw about 200 people at the lake for the event.
Spring Meadow Resources provides housing and services for people with developmental disabilities. Bissett said events like the regatta are important sources of revenue, because there are limits on how they can use their other funding – especially state or federal money.
“The community that steps up and helps out with that is truly a godsend, because that money there gives us the ability to cover things that the state doesn’t allow us to use that money for,” he said. “So with that, it helps us to greatly increase their quality of life, to ensure that they are being totally included in community events and things like that.”
Bissett said the regatta raises an average about $12,000 to $13,000 each year for Spring Meadow Resources. The money raised goes toward things like arts and crafts programs for people in day services and needed household items for new residents.
Bissett said he is grateful for the participants and sponsors of this year’s regatta, and that he hopes next year’s event will be even larger.
“I would definitely recommend individuals that are wanting to take part in this to get onto our website and to pull up that registration form and start looking to see what all is entailed with making a boat,” he said.
You can find more information at the Spring Meadow Resources website.
