Rotarians fight polio with rubber ducks

The local Rotary Club has started a fun way to raise money to fight polio. The club is currently selling rubber ducks at local banks – the ducks will take part in a big rubber duck race on the Apalachicola River next month. Rotary International has been raising money to fight polio since 1985, but 2 years ago they were given a big incentive to try to raise more when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said it would match all donations dollar for dollar. That means for every 2 dollar race ticket the group is able to sell they get an additional 2 dollars from the Gates foundation, which they say is enough to immunize 8 children against polio. The fundraiser works like this – you go to any branch of Gulf State or Apalachicola State bank, where you can buy as many race tickets as you want. You can also buy your tickets from any Rotarian. Each rubber duck has a number on its bottom, which should match a number on the ticket you buy. On July the 3rd, the ducks will be loaded on to a dumptruck and taken to the big hump of the Apalachicola bridge where they will then be dumped into the river into a track made out of floating oil barrier booms. Its hoped the current will then take the ducks downstream to a boat which is waiting to grab the first, second and third place winners. If those ducks happen to have your numbers on them, you can win a 500 dollar 1st prize, 300 dollar second prize or 200 dollar 3rd prize. The duck race will take place as part of the city of Apalachicola’s annual bicycle parade and ice cream social. The Rotary club says it also plans to do the rubber duck fundraiser again this year as part of the Florida Seafood festival – and the money from that will go to local projects.