Where's Quacky?

Every year, we know summer is coming when 30,000 yellow rubber ducks drop into the Wando River and the Charleston Duck Race is underway. This year the race will take place on Saturday, June 10, at Daniel Island Children’s Park. Charleston-area Rotary Clubs who administer the event are excited to engage with local businesses and Daniel Island schools in a new way for the 2017 festivities.

The Duck Race remains the same - with every “duck adoption” you are given an entry into the race, with the potential to win $20,000 in prizes. One lucky duck will even be worth $10,000. The proceeds from this event have numbered almost $100,000 in previous years. In addition to many of the local charities Daniel Island Rotary has sponsored in the past, this year three schools - Cainhoy Elementary School, Philip Simmons Elementary, and Daniel Island School - will be the main beneficiaries of the funds generated. The Daniel Island Rotary Club wanted to take on a new challenge in 2017 to engage local Daniel Island businesses in the race. Seeking to garner this support, the Rotary Club turned to Blackbaud, the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Volunteers Lindsay Lane, Natasha Schettini, and Julia Mayer worked with Rotary Club members to design a Daniel Island Small Business Sponsor Program.

“We believe this new feature of the Rotary Charity Duck Race offers unique benefits to Daniel Island businesses,” said George Jucha, a member of the Rotary Club of Daniel Island and Chair of the 2017 Duck Race.

That new feature is a campaign to engage more local businesses in the highly successful and visible race event, now in its 11th year.

“We have received great support from many individuals and some larger businesses on Daniel Island,” Jucha observed, adding, “Now we have created a strong reason for our many smaller businesses to support the race.”

At a $250 (yellow) or $500 (blue) level, sponsors receive 25 or 50 ducks, respectively, in the race and are eligible to win a prize that they can award to employees, customers, or others. They will also receive promotion on the duck race website, in The Daniel Island News, and on signage displayed at the race event on June 10. Further, they will receive social media publicity on the Rotary’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages that they can use to publicize their participation in the Duck Race.

Each sponsor receives a large yellow duck to display at their business showing that they are a proud sponsor of this year’s race. In addition, during the month of May, a “Where’s Quacky?” Contest will be held using a special yellow duck named Quacky. This duck will be moved frequently from business to business. When patrons take a selfie with Quacky and post it to any of the @CharlestonDuckRace social media pages, they will be eligible to win Amazon Gift Cards! The goal is to increase traffic into local Daniel Island businesses, and generate excitement for the upcoming race.

“We hope businesses will want to be associated with this fun, family event and the many causes it supports,” continued Jucha.

In addition to supporting investments in three area schools, this year’s Duck Race will also benefit several local charities (Camp Happy Days, Carolina Youth Development Center, Berkeley County Library Bookmobile, East Cooper Meals on Wheels, Doors to Freedom, and Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center), and many Rotary-directed service programs, such as food drives, dictionaries for third graders, and the DI Speakers’ Series. “The initial response has been terrific,” Jucha reported. Over 20 businesses have agreed to sponsor the Charleston Duck Race so far. Businesses that still want to participate may contact Rotarian George Roberts at 843-302-2978. When agreeing to sponsor the Charleston Duck Race, Karen Elsey from Laura Alberts explained “We think it is important for local businesses to show their support for Rotary and education on DI.”

For more information on this year’s event, visit www.charlestonduckrace.com.