On a warm June morning in Philadelphia, a boat with 20 TD colleagues briskly moved along the water of the Schuylkill River. The colleagues — sitting side by side, shoulder to shoulder — each moved in synchronized fashion, responding to the loud drum beat from a captain sitting in the back.
As the boat zoomed toward the finish line of the 2024 annual Dragon Boat Regatta, the glory of a top-place finish that many of the colleagues felt was quickly superseded by another feeling — a feeling of purpose.
"This race gives us an opportunity to meet folks we don't typically get to meet and also helps us make a difference in the communities we serve," says Lilibeth Ramirez, TD Bank's Team Manager, HR Operations, and Co-lead for the TD PA/NJ Multicultural Network. "And that's what makes it really fun."
The Origins of the Dragon Boat Regatta
The Dragon Boat Regatta is an annual race held each spring where teams of 20 people row three 500-meter races down the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The race is for fun and team building, but TD takes the opportunity to help fundraise for charities.
The origin of the Dragon Boat name comes from Chinese legend, with the original races originating in the Hong Kong region. From there, Dragon Boat races spread across the world, with the Philadelphia race serving as a major Dragon Boat competition in the northeastern United States.
"Many people still honor that legendary story to this day through the Dragon Boat race, particularly in southeast Asian countries and Hong Kong," says Kathy Wong, TD Bank Senior Manager, Fraud Risk Management, and Co-chair for the TD PA/NJ Regional Diversity Council.
Supporting a good cause
Four years ago, an organization called Turning Points for Children came to TD asking if they'd sponsor and recruit a team to participate in the race. Their mission is to help create a thriving community by bringing social and health services to vulnerable people.
Turning Points is also a customer of TD, and the group thought it would be a good opportunity to support a community organization.
That was the start of TD's Paddle for a Purpose campaign. In the first year, TD's Black Employee Network (BEN) led the charge by creating a team for the event. BEN recruited enough TD colleagues to fill one boat, and the team raised around $9,000 for Turning Points.
Kathy became involved with planning the campaign in its second year, and she has helped oversee an increase in participation in each subsequent year.
"We knew we could lean on our Business Resource Group communities to recruit volunteers," she remembers. "We used those networks and word of mouth, and we've found more success every year since."
Kathy says the intersectionality and close relationships between TD Bank's various Business Resource Groups — including the PA/NJ Regional Diversity Council, BEN, TD Salutes, Disability Inclusion Network, Women at TD, and the Multicultural Network — has been key to the recruiting improvements over the past four years. For this year's race, Kathy estimates that close to 100 volunteers participated in TD's Paddle for a Purpose campaign, including colleagues and their families.
The team was able to fill two boats — including one boat made up of solely women — and had enough additional volunteers to fill a third boat.
"Once you experience the race one time, you want to come back and do it again," she adds.
Most importantly, the team raised close to $30,000 this year, including a $10,000 contribution from the TD Ready Commitment Matching Fund Program, for Turning Points for Children — an amount that resonated with Arkeem Graves.
Arkeem is a TD Bank Senior Fraud Risk Analyst and a Co-lead for TD Salutes, and this year he served as a captain for one of TD's boats. Arkeem also identifies with the mission of Turning Points.
"Growing up, I was displaced from my original environment, and through Turning Points, I learned that I was considered a foster child," Arkeem remembers. "However, by changing environments, I was able to have more opportunities, and an organization like Turning Points provides those new opportunities to kids who wouldn't otherwise have one."
Teamwork makes the dream work
Before race day begins, recruits must participate in three practices. Because many of the recruits have little to no rowing experience, the practices are led by experienced rowers.
Safety is a major priority, and races take place in six ultra-wide lanes. Multiple chase boats are in place as well, should a boat tip during the race.
Once the race begins, it's up to the team captain to motivate and coordinate the rowers, ensuring they're synchronized with their paddle strokes. One person being off in their paddling can cause the entire boat to fall back in the race.
As team captain, Arkeem was able to apply a lot of his experience within Fraud Risk to his rowing duties.
"I lead a lot of different group exercises, and one of the main goals with facilitating a meeting is ensuring people are listening and on the same page," he says. "I also had to quickly learn which people had experience, leaning on them to help empower the rest of the team."
While the action may be focused on the water, that doesn't mean there isn't opportunity for fun on land. Arkeem talks about the festival-like atmosphere on shore, with many family members and supporters coming out to root for their teams.
It also provides an opportunity for TD to engage with the community. This year, TD had a retail presence at the event to help establish relationships.
"People get excited to see our tent," Arkeem says. "You don't know how many customers walk up and want nothing more than to tell us, 'I bank with TD.' And that helps our retail folks have conversations and carry on conversations with potential new customers who want to know more."
Keeping things fun
While a boat filled with retail bankers, risk managers, and other banking and financial professionals might not sound like a recipe for success, the team proved that looks can be deceiving. Coming together in support of a good cause, TD's Paddle for a Purpose team took home trophies and medals — all the while making a difference for the community.
It doesn't hurt that they had fun doing it, too.
"This is one activity where you get to be physically and mentally engaged and you're able to bond with your co-workers in a way that you haven't been able to do before," Arkeem says. "It's a lot of fun, and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a challenge next year."