Graduate Higher Ed Funding Grows With Each Rubber Duck Purchase

Whoo-hoo — it’s Duck Race season! We’re very blessed to have such an incredible base of support in the extended Eagle Rock community and we’re super excited to kick off this year’s race.

And when it comes to fundraisers for our school’s Graduate Higher Education Fund, what could be more festive than a Rubber Duck race? Why, you can’t even say rubber ducky without smiling. So, when you’re offered the opportunity to make a contribution to our Graduate Higher Education Fund — and potentially win valuable prizes — it becomes an easy decision.

Which probably goes a long way in explaining why the Estes Park Duck Race is such a huge success. Held each year on the first Saturday in May, this event has raised more than $2 million for local charities and organizations since the first event back in 1989. And among the big beneficiaries of the festivities has been Eagle Rock School’s Graduate Higher Education Fund.

The 2017 edition of the Duck Race & Festival will be held on Saturday, May 6, and here’s how it works and why you may want to considering adopting a duck or two or three or more:

• Eagle Rock supporters can adopt a rubber duck for $20 — or $21 for each rubber ducky adopted online.
• Nineteen dollars of that amount goes directly into our school’s Graduate Higher Education Fund, which supports past and future Eagle Rock graduates in their pursuit of a higher education.
• Visit www.EPduckRace.org to get started (but refer to the info below when doing so).

You should also know that Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center is an official race sponsor this year, and because the Rotary Club of Estes Park organizes the duck race, the overhead costs are kept to a minimum, enabling individual groups to garner 95 percent of the proceeds.

The race begins at 1 p.m. at Nicky’s Restaurant here in Estes Park where the ducks are dropped in the water. The finish line is at the George Hix Plaza near Inkwell & Brew, owned and operated by Anastacia Galloway. Anastacia is an Eagle Rock-affiliated professional development associate, and the business she runs with her partner Kevin serves handcrafted coffee and sells stationary, greeting cards and writing instruments. It’s right around here where the winners’ names will be posted in real time.

Major sponsors and local merchants have once again contributed the hundreds of prizes that will be awarded to adoptees of the first ducks to cross the finish line, with the duck race committee guaranteeing big prizes valued from $20 and more.

Last year Eagle Rock sold nearly 500 duck race tickets totaling more than $9,000 for our Higher Education Graduate Fund. This year, we’d like to surpass $10,000 in ticket sales. Beneficiaries of the fund include Eagle Rock School graduates — all of whom are eligible for up to $14,000 toward the cost of undergraduate and post-graduate education.

Graduate Higher Education funds enable us to continue assisting our graduates, and we’d be grateful for any support. Each race ticket credited to our school helps our graduating students. Not to mention the possibility that your ducks could be winners!

To buy a ticket online, please visit www.EPduckRace.org and purchase as many tickets as you can comfortably afford. Just be sure to choose Eagle Rock School as the recipient of your adoption AND be sure to credit the Eagle Rock student or staff member who contacted you and sold you the ticket.

To purchase tickets by mail, send a check to:

2017 Duck Race
c/o: Eagle Rock School
2750 Notaiah Road
Estes Park, Colorado 80517

If you want to order tickets by phone with a credit or debit card, call us during business hours for the Mountain Time Zone at (970) 586-7158 to make your purchase.

Thank you in advance for your generous donations. Your purchase is guaranteed to make a meaningful impact on the lives of our grads.