At 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 3, the Freestore Foodbank will celebrate the 23rd Annual Rubber Duck Regatta, the organization’s largest fundraising event. Here are some fun facts surrounding the event:
- During the event, as many as 200,000 rubber ducks will drop into the Ohio River from a semi trailer suspended from the Purple People Bridge.
- The first prize winner will receive a 2017 Honda HR-V, courtesy Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Honda Dealers and possibly $1 million if their duck is the “KEMBA Million Dollar Duck.” The second prize winner will receive $100 in Kroger gift cards per week, for an entire year ($5,200 total)! Five additional winners will be awarded $500 cash from Kemba Credit Union.
- The total weight of 200,000 rubber ducks tips the scales at 37,500 pounds.
- It takes hundreds of volunteers to prepare for the Rubber Duck Regatta. This includes such tasks as prepping the ducks to swim, cleaning them up post-regatta and, of course, managing the flow of events on the day of the event.
- Ducks participating in the Rubber Duck Regatta are well-traveled. They fly into Cincinnati from all over the country.
- Last year’s duck sales netted more than $1 million, the equivalent of more than three million meals.
- Individuals can currently buy ducks online at www.rubberduckregatta.org. Ducks will be available by phone at (513) 929-DUCK (3825) beginning Monday, July 24, and at the check-out of Kroger stores beginning Wednesday, July 26, and at local KEMBA Credit Union locations beginning Monday, July 24.