PITTSFIELD — Adults and children took a break from playing duck-themed games or enjoying grilled hot dogs and fresh popcorn in Manson Park to watch hundreds of rubber ducks racing toward the finish line during the Fourth Annual Sebasticook Valley Health Duck Race for Breast Cancer Awareness last month. Plunged from the Hunnewell Avenue Bridge, hundreds of pink, blue and yellow ducks floated down the Sebasticook River into the nets of SVH employees and volunteers.

The race was coordinated by the SVH Women’s Health Center staff to raise money and awareness of the Nancy Stone Fund, which has provided breast care services for uninsured or under-insured women seeking diagnostic services at the hospital. This year’s winning duck was purchased by Kristi McGown of the SVH rehabilitation department, according to a SVH press release.

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Volunteers collect rubber ducks floating past the pink finish line in Manson Park at the fourth annual duck race, which raised nearly $3,000. Contributed photo

Terri Vieira, SVH President and CEO/EMHS Senior Vice President, said in the release “Thanks to everyone who helped organize and participate in this year’s event, and congratulations to race organizers who netted close to $3,000 — the highest amount raised since the duck race began in 2011. All the proceeds from this event, as well as those from the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Walk every October, fortify our Nancy Stone Fund, which provides free mammograms to area women who are unable to afford the screening.”

Director of Diagnostic Services Jennifer Castonguay, added in the release, “This year’s Breast Cancer Walk will celebrate its 20th anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 18. We’re returning to our roots by moving the location of the walk to start and finish at MCI in Pittsfield during the SVH Community Health Fair, so walkers can enjoy being indoors before and after the walk.”

For more information, call Jennifer Yarbrough at 487-4024.

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