CHRISTUS St. Michael Friends of the Foundation kicked off its Great Texarkana Duck Race on Wednesday with a luncheon at Texas Roadhouse.
The race will be at 10 a.m. Aug. 19 at Holiday Springs Water Park, 5501 Crossroads Parkway. Monkey Island and Splash Mountain Texarkana will be open from 9 to 11 a.m. for family fun activities on race day.
Ducks are available for adoption for a donation of $5 each or six ducks for $25.
The owner of the first duck to cross the finish line race day will win a 2017 Kia Forte. The second-place prize is a $1,000 Holiday Cleaners gift certificate. A $500 gift certificate from Super 1 Foods will go to third place, and fourth place will receive a $500 gift card to Classic Car Wash. The fifth-place prize is a Tundra 75 Yeti Cooler from Ledwell Machinery, and the sixth-place prize is a custom-built fire pit from JCM Industries.
Proceeds from the event will be used to help purchase a Varian TrueBeam advanced linear accelerator with rapid arc technology and body surface imaging for St. Michael's W. Temple Webber Cancer Center.
"This amazing piece of technology will bring an advanced standard of precision in radiotherapy care that enables us to treat even the most challenging cancer cases in the lung, breast, head and neck, abdomen, liver and other regions with pinpoint accuracy and precision," said Gary Upp, director of the cancer center.
Proceeds from previous duck races have helped to build the pediatric unit and neonatal intensive care unit at St. Michael, benefit area cancer patients and purchase a patient transport van.
Duck adoptions will be available online at christusstmichaelfoundation.org until 4:30 p.m. Aug. 18, or by calling Duck Central at 903-614-7223 until 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 18. Ducks can be adopted at Duck Central at St. Michael Health System, 2600 St. Michael Drive, and through participating sponsors.
For more information or to obtain an entry form, call Duck Central at 903-614-7223.