(Posted 7:30 a.m., July 26)
Kites 4 Cancer event a soaring success
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Jessica Ferguson (inset) from Kanata spent Sunday flying a kite with her daughter Hannah at the 4th annual Kites 4 Cancer event at Petrie Island. Fred Sherwin/Photo

The skies above Petrie Island were filled with kites on the weekend as the 4th annual Kites 4 Cancer event was held on Sunday to raise awareness and money for the Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

The event attracted people from all over the region including a couple from Kanata who read about the event online and decided to drive across town to fly a kite with their daughter.

"We like to support as many cancer events as we can and we thought this was a perfect way to spend time together and to check out Petrie Island, We've never been her before and it's beautiful," said Jessica Ferguson.

Kites 4 Cancer is the brainchild of kite enthusiast Augustine Mark who spent hours making kites for people to fly in exchange for a $5 donation.

"When we decided to do this everyone else was doing runs or walks and we wanted to do something that was different and that families could do together. t brings people back to their childhood and a happier time," said Mark whose father is a cancer survivor as is co-organizer Kerwin Dougin..

The event first started out as a Family Fun Day for members of the local Caribbean community, but it soon grew into an event for the whole community although it's managed to maintain a distinctly Caribbean flavour. The entertainment was Caribbean and so was the food.

Mark said the organizing committee hoped to raise over $1,000 for the Ottawa Hospital Foundation and next year they plan to raise even more.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

Return to top

Return to Front Page