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Neal thanks Rotary for $1K donation
Marianas Pacific Paddlers Shelli Neal thanked the Rotary Club of Saipan for donating $1,000 to the sport of outrigger canoeing while serving as guest speaker of the group’s weekly meeting last Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.
“I don’t believe our club received the money. Napu [Outrigger Canoe Club], which is the juniors team, received $1,000,” Neal said. “Any funds that we get to help, they go to great use and we can’t do this sport without the help from the community, particularly for a club like Napu with about 30 juniors.”
“Those guys [Napu] don’t work, so they depend on either fundraising or funds from their family. We don’t want this sport to be taxing on their relatives and be an impediment to get kids out there and learn a sport that will help them transition into the adult team. So all teams work together to hit up the community and put up fundraisers, sell raffle tickets, pick up trash, and contact organizations like the Rotary Club to request support for our endeavors because we don’t just paddle here—we go throughout Micronesia representing the CNMI,” Neal said.
Rotary Club president Ivan Ilmov said, “Three weeks ago, we had a representative from a paddling club and they asked for donations in regards to the potential of traveling to Palau and represent the CNMI as a team. So we gave them $1,000 to help cover expenses. In total, they asked the community for about $14,000 so we hope we can help them with something.”
