It’s Day 147 of “365 Things to do in Cincinnati” and today we are featuring the Rubber Duck Regatta. You may be surprised to see that I am posting an event I could not have attended yet (since it happens on Sunday). Well, this is one that I wanted to highlight BEFORE the event so you can go get your duck. Plus, I did recently take a tour of the Freestore Foodbank and thought this would be a good way to tell you about my tour of the Foodbank PLUS get you to buy a duck (or two… or five)!
Above you’ll see the ducks getting ready for their big day. This was in the Freestore Foodbank warehouse on Tennessee Avenue. I was recently invited to take a tour of their facility and am excited to get to tell you about the great things they do in our community (as well as in our entire tri-state region).
The Freestore Foodbank helps soooo many people. I can’t even begin to tell you all of the things they do to help fight hunger. I especially want to highlight what they’re doing to fight CHILDHOOD hunger. Few things break my heart more than thinking a child goes without food at home. But it happens every single day. Some children only get to eat a decent meal while they’re at school.
According to the Freestore Foodbanks site, “In Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport Public Schools, there are over 40 schools with at least 85% of students participating in the national free or reduced-cost breakfast and school lunch program, according to Ohio and Kentucky Departments of Education.” The Freestore Foodbank recognized that these same children are likely to go hungry for the entire weekend. The Freestore Foodbank developed a program to help fight this hunger – The PowerPack Program.
Volunteers pack these Power Packs – a bag full of enough food to get a child through the weekend. The Power Packs are distributed to needy children at school. They contain non-perishable items that will keep the child fed and nourished until school resumes after the weekend. An average of 7500 Power Packs are distributed over the school year.
The program started when teachers were noticing children “saving” discarded lunch items on Fridays so that they’d have something to eat for the weekend. How sad is that? 
It breaks my heart.
And of course that’s just one of the many programs the Freestore Foodbank operates. They also have Kids Cafe, food pantries, mobile pantries, etc. In addition, they also operate Cincinnati Cooks (see their site for the details – it’s a fantastic program).
So go buy just one duck… One duck costs just $5. Pack your lunch one day, skip your Starbucks one day – and use your 5 bucks to buy a duck.
The Rubber Duck Regatta benefits the Freestore Foodbank and is one of their biggest fundraisers. Last year they raised $550,000 – enough to provide 2.2 million meals! The ducks will be dropped into the river on Sunday (Sept. 5, 2010) at 3pm. The first duck to reach the finish line will win a new car for its lucky owner (details on their site).
Ducks can be purchased on their site and at all local Kroger stores.
