Crosswinds Duck Race Set For Indian River Festival

fairs & festivals

BREVARD COUNTY • TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA — The “Duck Season” officially opened on March 14th this year, and for the following seven weeks Brevard County went duck crazy as Crosswinds Youth Services will presents its 14th Annual Great Brevard Duck Race on Sunday, May 6 at the 38th Annual Indian River Festival.

Everywhere you look you will find people adopting rubber ducks to race for them, taking souvenir rubber duckies home to put in their bathtubs, wearing duck T-Shirts, and singing and dancing to duck songs!

All proceeds from the Duck Race go to Crosswinds Youth Services, a not-for-profit organization, which has been serving young people in Brevard County since 1974.

15,000 Rubber Ducks Turned Loose In the Indian River

Approximately 15,000 yellow rubber duckies decked out with ultra-cool sunglasses will be plummeted from the traditional Brevard Road and Bridge’s bright yellow dump truck into the water during the Indian River Festival at 1pm on May 6, 2012, at Sand Point Park, Titusville and then they will “race” to the finish line to win prizes for their adoptive parents.

Duck Race Is Major Fundraiser

The Duck Race is the major fundraiser of the year for Crosswinds, offering Brevard duck fans the chance to win some great prizes.

When someone adopts a duck by donating $5, they receive a chance to win one of the prizes.

The prizes this year are spectacular once again, with all the treasures being donated by community-minded businesses.

The Crosswinds Duck Race is part of the annual four-day Titusville, Florida extravaganza called the Indian River Festival which is a special event every year for the Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Indian River Festival features over 200 state fair rides, games, food stands and free shows, all for one low admission price of only $10 per person.

The free shows include a family circus, a motorcross stunt show, musical concerts and much more.

The Duck Race is supported through the generosity of numerous media agencies and corporations that underwrite the event including the WFTV 9 Family Connection and Partners.

Crosswinds Mission

Crosswinds Youth Services creates opportunities for young people to succeed, embodying the organization’s primary goal of helping young people strengthen skills, develop leadership abilities, and reach their full potential.

History

Crosswinds began in the 1970’s with a group of concerned community leaders who came together to discuss how Brevard County, Florida could respond to the increasing number of runaway and homeless youth in the community.

The tragic results of not helping these young people had become apparent when several graves were unearthed in the county.

These graves contained the bodies of children who had run away from home and had been murdered.

The initial group of community leaders responding to this terrible tragedy included judges, a county commissioner, and Dr. Robert Lehton, a psychologist, who brought to the table his experience counseling runaway youth and establishing the first youth shelter in the state of Louisiana.

Lehton is the Past Chair of Crosswinds’ Board of Directors, and the long-standing volunteer for whom Crosswinds’ shelter facility is now named.

Out of the efforts of this group of volunteers, the organization now known as Crosswinds opened an emergency youth shelter in 1974.

Over the years, Crosswinds has grown to include a wide range of programs and services for young people and their families.

In early 2002, Crosswinds opened a new and expanded emergency shelter in Cocoa, Florida, moving the program from Merritt Island, where it had been located for nearly 30 years.

Crosswinds administrative offices and other programs were also consolidated on the Cocoa campus to maximize resources and provide better accessibility to services for youth, families, law enforcement, and other community organizations.

National Recognition

Crosswinds has received national, statewide, and local recognition for outstanding service to Brevard County’s young people, including being this year’s recipient of the Melbourne – Palm Bay Area Chamber of Commerce’s Non-Profit of the Year Award.

Crosswinds is committed to providing quality services and has been recognized nationally, regionally, statewide and locally.

For example, Crosswinds was named 2003 Agency of the Year by the National Network for Youth, 2003 Organization of the Year and recipient of the Melbourne – Palm Bay Area Chamber of Commerce’s Non-Profit of the Year Award in 2008.

Board of Directors

Crosswinds is governed by a group of dedicated local citizens including; Mitchell Goldman, Chair; Nina Gadodia, Vice Chair; Stockton Whitten, Treasurer; Sheriff Jack Parker, Secretary;Robert E. Lehton, Psy.D, Past Chair; Greg Crews, Director; Cynthia Handley, Director; Martha Kirby, Director; Alison Malone, Director; Charles Ian Nash, Director; Summit Shah, Director; Major Andrew Walters, Director; Shannon L. Wilson, Director and Jan Lokay, President & C.E.O.

• For information about Crosswinds Youth Services call 452-0800 ext. 100

• For information about the Great Brevard Duck Race call 321-452-0800

• For more information about the Indian River Festival log on to BrevardProductions.com

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