Big Brothers Big Sisters Central Plains' annual duck race injected even more fun into the community's Canada Day celebration.

The organization put on a rubber dace race at splash island as a fundraiser for their summer activities. BBBS executive director Dawn Froese outlines how it worked.

"We took all of the 1,800 and something ducks, and we sent them down the water slide. They went into a holding area, and at 6:30 we blew the duck whistle and 'quacked' it open. They then began to go down the lazy river," Froese explains. "It is a lazy river, so it does take a little while but three ducks made it through to the finish line."

Froese says they had prizes for the representatives of the top three ducks, including $1,000 for first place. BBBS will be going home with quite a bit more than that as Froese notes they were able to raise over $5,000.

"It means a lot, especially since we're coming out of COVID, and we haven't been able to do fundraisers in the last few years," Froese continues. "This will help us continue finding mentors for students aged 6-18. Just to have an adult walk with them through life."

The executive director adds she will always be amazed by the consistent support of the Portage community.

"It's always humbling for me knowing that people believe in what we do and that they want to be a part of the duck race or anything else that we do," Froese continues. "We get a lot of support, and we're very thankful."

Froese says it was "a quacker of a day." She adds they hope to have just as much support again next year.

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