The Peorian

Thu03282024

Last updateMon, 15 Jun 2020 10pm

Back You are here: Home News News Non-Profit Get quacking! The 25th Annual Duck Race is here

Get quacking! The 25th Annual Duck Race is here

ducklogo
Log in to save this page.

Martha Herm said it's hard to believe it has been 25 years since the duck race to benefit the Center for the Prevention of Abuse began.

"I guess ducks fly when you're having fun," said Herm, the Center's executive director who has been there for all the previous races. "We had no idea when we started that the race would become what it has. It's has been wonderful."

Herm said about 6,000 of the rubber ducks donning sunglasses were sold the first year; last year it reached 25,000 ducks adopted. She is confident that by the time the race starts Saturday at 2 p.m., the 25,000-duck mark will be reached once again.

"They tend to flock in at the last minute," she said. Don't worry, she has a lot more puns where those came from.

Herm said she believes the duck race has succeeded as it has because of its uniqueness. "There is no other fund raiser like it, really, and we like it because the issues we have to deal with every day are so heavy, so it's nice to have a fun way to be able to tell our story," she said.

She added she also believes the duck race has grown is because it has helped the Center for Prevention of Abuse to educate the public on those heavy issue, issues that in one way or another affect all of us.

"We just ask people not to duck the issues," she said. "It really does affect us all. For example, abuse causes injuries that result in emergency room visits, which then affects the cost of medical insurance. Most people don't realize the leading cause of injuries to women is spousal abuse."

The Center deals with many other forms of abuse and the victims can be women, men and children. Last year, Herm said, it dealt with more than 5,000 cases of abuse in its various forms. Victims ranged in age from infancy to 102 years old, she added.

"On the positive side, though, we also were able to work with more than 20,000 students in our prevention programs, from dealing with sexual abuse and being able to say 'no' and tell somebody you trust about it to preventing bullying," she said.

"Our prevention programs are important. We see them as the hope for the future, the hope for a future of less and less abuse. But prevention programs get very little funding, which is why most of the money raised from the duck race goes to fund our prevention programs," Herm said.

"For every dollar spent on prevention, $7 is saved in treatment."

There is still time to adopt a duck, as long as supplies last. Adoption cost $5 and your duck would be added to the flock that will be released in the marina next to the Spirit of Peoria at 2 p.m. If you adopt five ducks, the sixth one is free.

Internet adoptions, available at www.duckrace.com/peoria, will stop at noon Saturday, you can come to the riverfront and adopt a duck right up until the race begins.

Activities will begin at noon Saturday, including games for children and food vendors.

The winning duck gets $5,000, courtesy of South Side Bank, and the next nine ducks will earn their owners gift certificates to various retails valued from $1,500 down to $100.

Par-A-Dice Hotel and Casino is the title sponsor for the event, but Herm said the event relies on all 30 of its sponsors. "We are so grateful they see the importance of the event and help us get our message out," she said.

About the Author
Paul Gordon is the editor of The Peorian after spending 29 years of indentured servitude at the Peoria Journal Star. He’s an award-winning writer, raconteur and song-and-dance man. He also went to a high school whose team name is the Alices (that’s Vincennes Lincoln High School in Indiana; you can look it up).