Derby Duck Fundraiser

The 24th Annual Great Brevard Duck Race was originally planned as a live community event at Lee Wenner Park in downtown Cocoa Village after the Central Florida Car Show. Due to unforeseen logistical challenges, the event will now be virtual. And the show must go on! You can watch the ducks race live on Space Coast Daily TV on Saturday, April 2, at 3:30 p.m.

An array of amazing prizes will be won by the lucky duck winners, including the Grand Prize: a 2-year lease on a brand new 2022 Honda Civic! Additional prizes and event information can be found at www.greatbrevardduckrace.com.

Virtual or not, The Great Brevard Duck Race is a major fundraiser for Crosswinds Youth Services, Inc., a non-profit organization that has been providing life-changing services to vulnerable children, youth, and their families in Brevard County for over 47 years. All proceeds from the event help to support Crosswinds Youth Services efforts to provide shelter, food, emergency services, counseling, and additional services to the community’s most vulnerable children. Crosswinds was able to provide help to over 3,000 children, youth, and families during the 2020-2021 fiscal year. For further information about Crosswinds, visit www.crosswindsyouthservices.org.

The GAME team is excited to kick off the 2022 duck season in the next few weeks! We’re especially excited to see more in person races making their way back. These last 2 years brought new challenges, but our racers have thrived through it all, even making the last- minute decision to go virtual. Although virtual races allowed for duck races to still happen, there’s nothing like an in person event; seeing smiling faces on the sidelines, the excitement of the ducks making their way to the finish line and hearing who won the line up of prizes.

First race up is the 3rd Annual Marion Rotary Duck Derby, which makes a splash on February 12th for the Discovery Center and other local charities. Teaming up with the Cattle Drive & Cowboy Round up, the ducks will hit the water as part of the event’s family- friendly entertainment. First 3 ducks to cross the finish line will win cash prizes including $2,000 for first place.

Let’s start the 2022 duck season off right, wishing them a QUACKtastic race day and getting all 5,000 ducks adopted for their community!

The Victoria Duck Safari, presented by the Victoria Symphony, made quite a splash in the fall of 2020.

It was the organization’s first year racing and they managed to adopt more than triple their original duck adoption goal. When they first started they had hoped to adopt 5,000 ducks, but ended up adopting 16,000 ducks total!

The Victoria Duck Safari did an amazing job promoting their event on Facebook and Instagram by sharing images they created, as well as content from the shared images on Equack. They also made their own custom promo video, which you can view here.

The Victoria Duck Safari partnered with 23 local nonprofits, including YMCA of the Golden Crescent, The Texas Zoo, Junior League of Victoria and many more.

Despite the pandemic and it being their first year racing, the Victoria Duck Safari was very successful. The hard work amongst the team members, community organizations and sponsors helped create a rewarding community event for everyone involved.

Be sure to check out the Victoria Duck Safari Facebook, where you can watch multiple videos that were live streamed during their inaugural event.

With the 2021 Duck Season approaching, we wanted to feature one of our most successful duck racers of 2020, the Nevada Humane Society.

The rapid onset of the pandemic changed everyone’s lives very quickly and how we all functioned on a day to day basis. Many in-person fundraising events were cancelled, and non-profits began to struggle with finding ways to raise money for their organizations. 2020 was a trying year for all of us.

The events fundraising industry had to make many adaptations to survive, including the rubber duck race fundraiser. All of our racers, both new and old, had to come up with innovative strategies to produce successful events in a virtual world.

The Nevada Humane Society Duck Race didn’t let the pandemic slow them down whatsoever. They found new ways to construct their event, and more than doubled their duck adoption goal and revenue from previous years. The final results? Over 47,000 ducks adopted and almost $200,000 in duck adoption revenue raised! 2020 was their 6th year racing, and the most successful one yet.

In conclusion, we can always let unfortunate circumstances be an excuse to give up. Or we can rise up to the challenge, and come up with innovative ways to keep moving forward. Stay tuned to read about more of our racers who had successful events in 2020!

Watch the Nevada Humane Society Duck Race video here.

As large events are still on hold for the time being, duck races continue on. Just a few weeks ago, the Desert Duck Derby went on to sell 9,000 ducks with an original goal of 5,000 ducks! Although they weren’t able to host the event they originally planned, The Arizona Pet Project went live on Instagram for the main event. The ducks were brought to one of their sponsor’s warehouses where the ducks were tagged and dropped in a pile. Churchill, a pup looking for his furever home was selected to pluck the winning ducks. He did his best but he needed some reinforcement to find the winners.

We may not be able to attend events for a little while longer. But we can still participate and engage in them virtually all while giving back to our communities!

Check out the live stream below!

Desert Duck Derby Instagram Live

This weekend the ducks are in the desert for the 1st Desert Duck Derby. First year racer, The Arizona Pet Project has shown everything but slowing down with their fundraising efforts. Already surpassing their original goal of 5,000 ducks, they’re well on their way to a new goal of 8,000 ducks. All proceeds benefit pets and their families in need along with Lost Our Home Pet Rescue.

Although no longer an event open to the public, the duck pluck will be live- streamed at one of their sponsor’s warehouse. A sweet pup who is up for adoption will randomly pluck the winning ducks out of a pile. The first lucky duck selected will win a 5-day African Safari for 2 plus other quacktastic prizes; including an electric scooter from Phat Scooters.

Adopt a duck at Desert Duck Derby and tune in on May 2nd at 11:00 am MST to see the festivities live!

With the current condition of social distancing and the inability to gather in large groups, some of our spring duck races are looking different in 2020. One racer that rose to the occasion recently was The Great Brevard Duck Race, hosted by Crosswinds Youth Services. The stay at home order happened less than 2 weeks before their race was set to take place. Head duck, Misty, didn’t want to lose the momentum of duck adoptions being halfway to their goal by postponing their race. She wanted to stick to their mission raising funds to serve at-risk youth and their families. Just as they had done the last 21 years with the duck race.

After some internal discussion and working with GAME on a new social media strategy, they decided to power through. One of their local media/news stations, streamed Facebook Live on race day to announce the winners. Up until the winners were randomly selected and announced, 9,823 ducks had been adopted and over $42,000 in revenue was raised!

Although it wasn’t the crowd filled event they’re used to having, they turned lemons into lemonade and made it work! We can’t wait to see the event they put on for 2021!

See full video here: The Great Brevard Duck Race Facebook LIVE

Great Brevard Duck Race

Freestore Foodbank is going bigger than ever for their 25th Annual Rubber Duck Regatta presented by Dawn! 200,000- yes, 200,000 rubber ducks will hit the Ohio River on September 1st. Each duck purchased, can provide 15 meals for kids in the community. The first lucky duck to cross the finish line will take home a 2019 Honda CRV LX, with a chance to win $1 million! The 2nd prize winner will receive $100 from Kroger every week for a year, and five additional winners will receive $500 cash from Kemba Credit Union.

Freestore Foodbank is one of Ohio’s largest food banks serving 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. They distribute 27 million meals annually through a network of 450 community partners including food pantries, shelters, community centers and more.

Don’t miss out on the duck spectacle this Sunday, get your duck or Big Quacks (6 ducks for $25) at www.rubberduckregatta.org or at a participating Kroger until Saturday, August 31st. If you can’t make it, you don’t have to be present to win.

Buy A Duck, Feed A Child, Win A Car!

 

More ducks are coming to race for the 3rd Annual Incredible Duck Race presented by the Kiwanis Club of Tampa! On Saturday, August 24th, a total of 15,000 ducks will race down Hillsborough River in front of Curtis Hixon Park. All proceeds will benefit local children’s programs and charities to provide scholarships, build a reading room in Boys & Girls Clubs, build residential accessibility ramps and more!

It’s not too late to adopt a single duck for $5 or a Flock of ducks (25 for $100) at Tampa Duck Race. The first lucky duck to cross the finish line will win $5,000 and 2nd & 3rd place will win cash prizes as well!

If you’re in the Tampa area, check out the festivities which will include family- friendly games, food, and entertainment. You don’t have to be present to win so you can still adopt a duck, help a child and enter for a chance to win cash!

The Incredible Duck Race, Tampa Duck Race, Kiwanis Club of Tampa
Photo Credit: Marsha Kemp Photography

After two weeks resting up, our ducks are back in three cities this Saturday! Both Wakefield Rotary Club and Montville Athletic Club are racing for the 1st time alongside veteran racer, Cedar Rapids Daybreak Rotary. A grand total of 20,000 ducks will race between these cities to raise money for youth and family-focused programs. If you find one in your area, be sure to check out the festivities and even adopt a duck. You never know, you could be the lucky winner of a cash prize!

1. Super Duper Duck Splash
Ducks Racing: 5,000
Organization: Wakefield Rotary Club of Wake Forest
Where: Wake Forest, NC
Who They Serve: Various local non-profits including Boys & Girls Club, Note in the Pocket, NCFC Youth and SAFEchild.

NC Duck Splash

2. Broncos Lucky Duck Pluck
Ducks Racing: 5,000
Organization: Montville Athletic League
Where: Montville, NJ
Who They Serve: Montville Athletic League, an organization that provides a variety of athletic programs in Montville Township.

Broncos Lucky Duck Pluck- fundraiser for young athletes


3. The Great Eastern Iowa Duck Race
Ducks Racing: 10,000
Organization: Cedar Rapids Daybreak Rotary
Where: Cedar Rapids, IA
Who They Serve: Various local non-profits including YouthPort at Polk Education Center, Jon Cushing Sunshine Foundation, ESNA Village Network and Legacy for Learning.

Great Eastern Iowa Duck Race- rubber duck race

Derby Duck Fundraiser