ABSTRACT
The Rubber Duck Regatta is an annual event that raises funds for the Freestore Foodback, which is the largest emergency food and services provider for a 20-county region in southwest Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southern Indiana. For this event, participants buy a duck for $5 each and then a truck dumps all of the ducks-about 150,000 in recent years-from a bridge into the Ohio River. The “owner” of the first duck to cross finish line downriver wins a new car. The Rubber Duck Regatta raised more than $1 million in 2015 and a total of nearly $10 million over 20 years. In terms of the Freestore Foodbank’s mission, these funds represent the equivalent of about 30 million meals. “The regatta does two things,” said Bob Edwards, who led the creation of this event. “It makes it possible for us to do more for more people, and it has made the community more aware of the need locally and how the Freestore services food pantries and shelters” (Curnutte, 2014).
