50,000 Rubber Ducks Dumped in Chicago River for Special Olympics

Whoever came up with this idea is a creative genius.

The 11th annual Rubber Ducky Derby was held on August 4th, 2016 in the Chicago River. It may seem like all fun and games, but all of the proceeds go towards funding the Illinois Special Olympics. In 2015, the event raised $400,000!

How does it work? Participants “adopt” a duck for five dollars, in hopes that theirs amongst the masses will be the first to cross the finish line. A dump truck pours all ~50,000 rubber duckies into the river at once.

Even the press covering the event were having a blast with the rubber toys:

Owners of the first few winning ducks are awarded prizes, and the giveaways are no joke — a 2016 Chevy Malibu, an all-inclusive vacation to Cancun, and more, were all up for grabs.

Between the hashtags #ChiDuckyDerby and #RubberDuckyDerby, there was a great amount of social media interaction and coverage on the event. Check out some tweets below:

Go rubber ducks! Go Special Olympics Illinois!

Would you participate and adopt a rubber duck? Ever seen anything like this? Let us know in the comments below or @WhatsTrending on Twitter.