RegattaCentral

John Bannan, the organization's Executive Director, formed the Philadelphia Children's Foundation in July of 2006. It was John's involvement with sports and the mentoring relationships he had with his coaches that helped him become a successful Olympic Rowing Coach, business person, and founder of PCF.  John was motivated by three things:his passion to provide young people with the support they need to excel in life; the understanding that resources in the city are abundant, but do not connect fully with the community they aim to serve; and the educational inequality that many students in Philadelphia face.  

Today, PCF is an educational support, nonprofit organization, serving Philadelphia's250,000 children and youth by connecting them and their families to resources and opportunities in the area. PCF works to empower students to improve their own life's circumstances and with it, the future and well-being of Philadelphia.  A comprehensive resource website, book drives, business tours, and outreach programs are among the projects that PCF takes on to achieve its mission and help Philadelphia students realize their full potential.

The Inagural Turn and Burn Regatta, commenced in 2009, benefits the Philadelphia Children's Foundation and its growing programs.

This fun-filled regatta was conceived to bridge the racing season change from spring distances to head racing, with a twist, or should we say a "turn!"  Similar to the age old Cakin's portrait "turning the stake," our race consists of a race upriver, a 180 degree turn, and then a race downriver to the finish line.  As you can imagine, the turn provides for many interesting techniques for redirecting a boat operating at full pressure.

The second race of the day is a 500 meter sprint.  A floating start and an all out go for broke dash to be the first to burn the finish line makes this an exciting race.

The Philadelphia Children's Foundation hosts a lunch for all participants at its race day headquarters, the St. Joseph's University Boathouse.  We hope you will join us in support of our efforts to allow children to "imagine the possiblilites!"