One lucky duck, one big mission: how Catholic Charities’ duck regatta helps families in need

The Wabash Valley Rubber Duck Regatta started in 2018 when the advisory council for Catholic Charities Terre Haute was looking for a new way to engage with the local community.

Every fourth of July, thousands of rubber ducks make their way down an oversized water slide as part of the annual Wabash Valley Rubber Duck Regatta hosted by Catholic Charities of Terre Haute in Indiana. The event has become a popular tradition and a successful way to raise money for people in need.

The regatta started in 2018 when the advisory council for Catholic Charities Terre Haute was looking for a new way to engage with the local community, specifically through a fundraising event. One of the council members was familiar with the Cincinnati Freestore Foodbank Duck Regatta and suggested they reach out to find out how the event is done.

Realizing they could take advantage of the town’s natural resource, the Wabash River, the council members decided to move forward. The duck regatta is now held every fourth of July alongside the town’s Independence Day celebrations, which include a concert, fireworks, and now, the duck regatta.

“The first couple of years I was so surprised because I thought ‘Well, maybe because people are coming to the concert we might get a few people spill over and come and watch the race,’ but no, we had a lot of people that actually came to watch the race that I think then fed into staying for the concert. So I think itʼs been a little bit of give and take for both,” Jennifer Tames, assistant agency director for Catholic Charities of Terre Haute, told EWTN News in an interview.

Tames explained that “duck season” began on May 21 — the day when people can start “adopting” rubber ducks for the race. The ducks are available for $5 and can be found at 20 different locations in the area. Then one lucky duck is chosen at the end of the race and whoever that duck belongs to wins $10,000.

While the race used to be held in the Wabash River, it is now done in a man-made, large waterslide due to safety concerns from the unpredictability in water levels. Despite this change, the community continues to show strong support for the event.

“The community has really gotten behind the event and they enjoy it. The kids love coming to watch the race itself even though weʼre no longer on the river,” Tames said.

She shared that roughly $45,000 is raised from the regatta each year and all proceeds go directly to the work Catholic Charities does in the area.

Catholic Charities Terre Haute has four “service lines”: nourishing the body, providing safe shelter, offering quality youth programs, and providing the spirit of Christmas — all supporting children, adults, families, and seniors.

Through the Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank, the equivalent of 3.8 million meals are provided throughout the year to seven counties in West Central Indiana.

The Ryves Youth Center runs year round and provides tutoring, mentoring, counseling, and recreational activities such as field trips and a summer camp. Additionally, there is a full-time preschool program that runs year-round and all children who participate in any of the programs at the youth center are provided with meals.

The Bethany House Emergency Shelter houses single women, married couples, and families. The staff works as case managers to help understand what led the individual or the family to homelessness and help them to set goals to be able to work to become self-sufficient again.

Lastly, the Christmas Store in Terre Haute provides hygiene products, clothing, toys and household items to those needing help with their Christmas. Thanks to retail partners, local community groups, and individual donations the shelves of the Christmas Store remain filled with new gifts year round.

“I donʼt think anybody gets into nonprofit work for the wealth,” Tames said. “We all get in it because we believe in what we do and we believe in the change that we can make in our community and the change that we can make in a single life.”

She added, “Even though in my role Iʼm not necessarily working with each of our neighbors every day, I can go home and know that the work that I do in raising funds for Catholic Charities, in raising awareness about Catholic Charities and the programs that we operate, is making a meaningful difference in somebody elseʼs life. You don’t get that everywhere.”

Tames shared that when it comes to the duck regatta, their hope “would be to increase the number of ducks…so that we can put more of those funds into the resources that we provide every year.”