Second Duck Derby raises over $25,000

The second Graham Rotary Club Duck Derby held at the end of April exceeded the money raised from last year according to club president Pam Scott, with over $25,000, raised based on the current calculations for the fundraising event which will be distributed to 17 local organization and causes.

The organization started their fundraising efforts in late February and hit the halfway mark of their 10,000 rubber ducks sales goal in mid April. The organization raised their sales goal from 5,000 ducks to 10,000 ducks for the race this year and also raised the first place prize from $2,500 to $5,000. Scott said despite a couple of hitches regarding moving the ducks, the event went smooth and had great weather.

“There are always some glitches, some big, some small, of course our biggest glitch which I think got handled in a great and expedient way was the traveling of the ducks down the river,” Scott said. “We didn’t anticipate that the wind could overcome the force of the water, so those things you just live and learn. That was the plan initially to race the ducks according to the wind, but overall we were blessed with amazing weather and we had a great crowd that came out and all of our vendors showed up and had good food choices and entertainment.”

Scott said the last week made the difference for the organization’s fundraising efforts as the number of duck purchases slowed down after their start in February. The organization hit their 10,000 duck sales goal by the morning of Saturday, April 27 and Scott said they cut off their fundraising efforts after hitting their goal.

For the rest of the story, see the Wednesday, May 22 edition of The Graham Leader.