Sometimes the best ways to promote a worthwhile cause and have some fun are creative and maybe even a little silly, at least from the outside looking in. This summer, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Kokomo, Indiana participated in just this type of event. They were honored to be a part of the 17th Annual Howard County Duck Derby at Kokomo Beach.
This is annual and local fundraising event is one that the entire community looks forward to each year. One of the reasons that it’s so highly anticipated is because all of the proceeds benefit Samaritan Caregivers, a non-profit United Way organization providing free help to senior citizens in Howard County. Each and every year, local businesses, organizations, and individuals can enter their ducks for chances to win exciting prizes and bragging rights for one year, all while supporting this great cause.
One of the other benefits is for the rest of the community. Each business and organization that comes out to race gets exposure and families and individuals get a chance to see what their community really has to offer. For this fun event, each participant or team has the choice of sponsoring a small duck or a “big papa” duck.
With high goals, the Ross Kokomo campus entered a big papa duck in the race for the third year in a row! Even though their duck did not place this year, the Ross staff had a wonderful time handing out popsicles, chapstick, and hand sanitizer to children, their parents, and other local business members.
The Ross Medical in Kokomo Assistant Campus Director of Admissions, Shannon Spencer, shared about her experience, “this is a great event for both students and staff at Ross. This event allows us to get Ross into the community to let them know we are here for them. Ross is about changing lives and in order to do that, we must let the community know we are here and ready to help.” The campus is already planning to enter the race next year and trying to come up with a strategy to win it!