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On Dec. 3, the Great West Georgia Duck Derby, an annual rubber duck race promoting a drug-free lifestyle, returns for its second year.

The fundraising event, led by the Calumet Center for Healing and Attachment, focuses on substance use education and awareness and is designed to target families with children in a fun, interactive way. The theme of this year’s event is “Don’t be riduckulous! Don’t do drugs!”

Executive director Michele Bedingfield said this year the event will be hosted at Great Wolf Lodge and will use the slides and lazy river.

“The biggest impact of the race is the opportunity to educate parents on how to have a conversation with their children about drugs, to bring awareness and to educate parents,” Bedingfield said. “As a parent myself, there’s a lot out there nowadays that we don’t know about. Sometimes kids can educate us, but it gives us an opportunity to educate parents on how to have a conversation with their kids.”

Bedingfield said it duck race has been a great eye-opener for bringing drug awareness and also gives the CCHA opportunity to bring awareness to other events the organization has coming up.

The cost to adopt a duck for the race is $5 for one duck, six ducks for $25 and 12 ducks for $50. Ducks can be purchased up to 7 a.m. on the morning of the race through the CCHA website.

The event will have prizes for the winning ducks including a $1,500 cash prize for the first duck across the finish line.

Bedingfield said the event be live-streamed, so winners do not have to be present to win.

She also said the proceeds from the race will go toward the CCHA and its programs.

“Outside of raising funds to support the program and the work being done at Calumet Center for Healing and Attachment, the race is a way to raise awareness,” Bedingfield said. “We want to raise awareness that there is support for women after addiction and there is help for families.”

She said CCHA’s goal is to reunite families back together after addiction.

“Drug addiction tears families apart and it can hurt — sometimes reuniting in a healthy way is tough,” Bedingfield said. “We want to reunite families that have been torn apart from addiction and help them with resources such as counseling,”

The Calumet Center for Healing and Attachment (CCHA) is a faith-based, non-profit 501c3 organization that raises awareness in the community through education about mental health and substance use disorder. Aid is focused on women and their children through personal education and training to help them break the cycle of substance use disorder and regain control of their lives.