Register and get ready for Cardboard Boat Race

Got a crew together to help build your entry in Fox Valley United Way's seventh annual What Floats Your Boat Cardboard Boat Race? Got a design in mind for the boat that will make your organization a household name in the Saturday, Aug. 22, race on Mastodon Lake in Aurora's Phillips Park?

Deborah Collins has the Come Sail Away registration forms and free cardboard that will make you and your entry part of the event that kicks off the Fox Valley United Way's 2009-10 fundraising campaign.

"The Cardboard Boat Race is a terrific event for families, friends, neighborhoods, co-workers - just about everybody," said Collins, director of administration for Fox Valley United Way. "But the campaign kickoff also serves as a reminder of the current challenges facing our local communities. In these economic times, more people than ever in the Fox Valley need assistance."

"The recession hasn't gone away, and state budget problems have seriously hurt many local social service agencies."

Fox Valley United Way provides support for more than 50 social service agencies serving Aurora, Big Rock, Bristol, Hinckley, Little Rock, Millbrook, Montgomery, Mooseheart, North Aurora, Oswego, Plano, Plattville, Sugar Grove and Yorkville.

Boats can compete in one of five divisions - junior, adult, business nonprofit and community. Either human- or mechanically-powered boats are permissible. First, second and third place trophies will be awarded in each division.

Registration information and rules, along with suggestions for building a cardboard boat, are on the Fox Valley United Way Web site, uwfoxvalley.org.

The free cardboard is courtesy of Aurora's Cano Container Corp., which is donating eight sheets of 4- by 8-foot corrugated cardboard to builders of each registered boat. Pickup instructions and times are on the FVUW Web site.