Paddleboards race in Surrey to help teens and kids with mental illness

About 200 paddle boarders took to the waters off Crescent Beach in Surrey to raise money for a new mental health facility in the Fraser Valley.

The inaugural Champion of the Crescent Stand Up Paddle Board race raised more than $128,000 and drew crowds to Blackie Spit Park to watch both pros and amateurs compete in various events, including 10-kilometre competitive race, a five-kilometre recreational race and a kids’ race.

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Dwayne Lotnick wins the 5 km SUP race at the Champion of the Crescent festival at Surrey’s Crescent Beach in support of the Surrey Hospital & Outpatient Centre Foundation Sunday.

International paddle boarding champion Danny Ching from the U.S. won the men’s competitive race with a time of 41:16, while the women’s race was won by Canadian Lina Augaitis with a time of 46:14.

The funds raised will go toward a new Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Stabilization Unit scheduled to open at Surrey Memorial Hospital in 2017.

Jane Adams, president of the Surrey Hospital & Outpatient Centre Foundation, called the planned unit the “most progressive children’s mental health unit” in the country. 

“We’re so thrilled that so many people joined us today to raise money for such an important cause,” she said in a statement. “Our amazing participants and our community sponsors have made an incredible contribution towards the lives of so many children and families.”

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