The annual Synergy Duck Race raised over $4,000, which will be used to continue community and school-based programs in Chestermere, Langdon, and Southeast Rocky View.
“Synergy runs community youth programs from ages seven and up. We have sponsors and funding, but fundraising is how we can run these programs,” said Fundraising Campaign Organizer, Hannah Mughal.
“It goes towards activities for kids to do, and keeping our programs going,” she added. “There is a need for these community programs.”
On Aug. 22, Synergy Duck Race participants completed an obstacle course which featured army crawls, frisbee, sack races, and the Face the Cookie minute to win it game at Camp Chestermere.
“It was a little different than last year. We had the obstacle course last year, but this year we had to make a couple of modifications,” Mughal said.
“We kept the racers separate, they were all distanced throughout the whole race, and any helpers that were along the way were wearing masks,” she said.
This year, the Synergy Duck Race did not feature any swimming or water activities due to the water advisory.
“We kept everything as safe as possible for our racers and our volunteers,” Mughal said.
“It still had the same community aspect, unfortunately, we couldn’t have spectators come out this year, we only had a couple of volunteers,” she said.
Although spectators were not allowed at the event, the race was live streamed on social media.
“We want the community to stay involved and see what our event is about. We love to have people out here, but unfortunately this year we couldn’t do that,” Mughal said.
Although this year’s Synergy Duck Race was different for everyone involved, being able to have the event was the ultimate highlight for Mughal.
“The highlight was seeing everyone here, and the fact that we were able to have this event still was a highlight because we weren’t sure if we were able to have it,” Mughal said.
“That we were able to run this event safely and keep everyone involved, not only to raise money but also to have our community event was a big success, and it was nice to see from start to finish,” she said.
Without the support of the community volunteers, interns, and local businesses the Synergy Duck Race wouldn’t have been possible.
“All of our interns were great, they were an awesome help, our volunteers were amazing, and the racers had a lot of fun,” Mughal said.
She added, “Thank you to everyone who sponsored a duck to run in the race, and the sponsors who donated prizes.”
