Above and Beyond

Some people like to spend their time outside of work watching TV, traveling, reading. For Ryan Lane, Monument Polychem Operator in Brandenburg, this free time is spent making a difference in communities all over the world. You may recognize his name from one of our past stories, which highlighted how Ryan’s non-profit organization, Global Disaster Outreach (GDO), teamed up with an All-Star Motorsports team to provide hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico. (A documentary about these efforts recently aired on ESPN!)

In the wake of the pandemic, GDO was quick to support members of their own community — starting with three major hospitals in Louisville, KY.  “We hosted a fundraising event in our area where we matched all donations made by individuals and local businesses,” Ryan explained. “We raised about $10,000 to buy lunches for the frontline workers at UofL Hospital, Mary & Elizabeth Hospital, and Jewish Hospital. With over 2,000 meals as a result, we then went to EMT stations, fire stations, and doctors offices all over Meade County.”

GDO also hosted a lunch program for students, allowing them and their families to come out to enjoy a free meal with the organization’s members, while other funds provided kids with backpacks and supplies they need for school in the fall. 

The organization’s current endeavor has the aim of becoming an annual tradition - which shouldn’t be a problem, since just two weeks into fundraising (at the time this article was written), Ryan and his team have already raised about $12,000 of the organization’s $15,000 goal. So what’s the event? A Rubber Ducky Derby! 

“We’ve already sold about 1,400 of these little ducks,” Ryan explained. “We’ve had so many businesses who want to sponsor the event in different ways,from banners to t-shirts. More than half of them actually reached out to us to join the effort.” And who can blame them? The event will not only feature rubber ducks racing down the river, but also various local first responders and their vehicles, Food Trucks, and a Car Cruise to make a full day of it. 

In addition to cool prize money, part of the funds will also be used to install big flat screen TV’s and iPads at the local nursing and assisted living homes, so the residents can FaceTime their families from all over. 

The rest will go toward supporting a lot more GDO efforts throughout the year. “We are hoping this fun annual event will help us throughout the whole year, so we can continue to do even more for our local community.”