Whitefish Duck Derby -The Results are In!

The Whitefish Community Foundation held its 2nd Annual Whitefish Duck Derby this past Sunday. The event took place in conjunction with the Whitefish Nonprofit Fair at Riverside Park and the Whitefish River. Many people questioned if the race would go on with the river under work but there was plenty of water still flowing to race the ducks. A nice crowd turned out to cheer their ducks on while duck wranglers worked hard in the river to keep the ducks out of the side swamps and racing down the river.

The Derby was a fundraiser for the Whitefish Community Foundation's Community Grants Fund netting just over $35,000 this year. This money will be awarded to area nonprofits at the November 4 Grants Presentation evening. Over 53 nonprofits have applied for funding this year from the Foundation. The Board of Directors for the Foundation set a goal to award a minimum of $100,000 this year to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Foundation. In 2009 the Foundation awarded $75,000 in grants, a record year and $25,000 came from the duck derby.

Participants in the Derby adopted ducks from the Foundation for one of three races. The Lucky Duck Race tickets cost $5 with a grand prize of $1000 was won by Bridget Wirth. Nine additional prizes were also awarded in this race. The Battle of the Big Ducks tickets with a ticket cost of $100 and a grand prize of $5,000 was won by Mark Kvamme! Kvamme and his wife Patricia are donating the funds to the Community Grants Fund. The Kids Great Rubber Duck Race tickets cost $10 and the grand prize was an IPod Touch. Jayke Thew's duck #18 won the race. The Kids race was a smaller race and kids who adopted a duck received a fun rubber duck to keep. The complete race results are listed below.

In addition to the individual prizes, the nonprofits were competing to win instant grants for their organizations by selling ducks and getting referrals from duck adopters. The nonprofit with the most points for selling and receiving referrals was the Whitefish Auditorium Project with over 10,000 points. It received a $1000 instant grant award. In second place receiving a $500 instant grant was the North Valley Food Bank. Shepherd's Hand Free Clinic won third place and received a $250 instant grant. Shepherd's Hand also won the bonus Grant of $1000 for being the referred organization by the winner of the Big Duck Race, Mark Kvamme.

The Community Foundation would like to thank everyone who supported the Derby this year. The Community Grants Fund is an essential program in our community that many nonprofit organizations depend on each year for funding needs.
The Duck Derby has been a great awareness program for the work of the Foundation and an excellent way for many people to give back to their community.