Duck race cancelled: Group is seeking donations to continue their mission

By Mike Renzella

The Haldimand Press

CALEDONIA—The Rubber Duck Race, a popular, annual charity fundraiser put on by the Steven Young Trust Fund, was forced to cancel earlier this month due to the ongoing health concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The trust fund was started back in 1989 when Steven, a local Caledonia boy diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, needed funding for an experimental treatment to combat the disease. A fundraiser was set up, but on the weekend of the event Steven succumbed to his illness. Before dying however, Steven made a final wish. He wished that all funds raised that weekend would be used to help others in the same situation as him. With that wish, the Steven Young Trust Fund was born, and has been used to help people burdened by expenses brought on by illness ever since.

“We’ve run this duck race ever since 1989, or just after. We sell the ducks for five dollars each, and we launch them down the river. We make $4,000 a year on the race. We also have people who want to give to us as a charity,” said Roland Craig, Treasurer for the Fund. “In 2000, we became a registered charity, and our mandate is to help people with assistance who don’t have private insurance, or public insurance does not cover their needs.”

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