Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Donates Record-Setting $200,000 to Local Charities

According to Ron Duggan, the owner of Captain Ron’s Bar and Grill in Sunrise Beach, Mo., who took over the popular Lake of the Ozarks Shootout more than a decade ago, this year’s top-speed event hit a new milestone in terms of donations to local non-profit organizations with $200,000 given back to various charities and fire protections districts.

Ron Duggan proudly announced that the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout reached $200,000 in donations from the 29th annual event. Photo courtesy 2017 Shootout George Denny Photo Crew

“We are so proud of this event and what it means to our community,” Duggan said, adding that in the 10 years since the event moved to Captain Ron’s it has raised $1,143,000. “I love everything about the Shootout, but being able to give back to the community is the best part. We are blessed to have such a fantastic event and an amazing amount of volunteers.”

Duggan said a total of 36 organizations supplied 678 volunteers and logged more than 8,800 hours of volunteer service for this year’s Shootout events. Between eight fire protection districts and 28 charities and organizations, the donations ranged from $26,135 to $384 (depending on volunteer hours and the nature of service).

During dinner with the speedonthewater.com team on Sunday night following this year’s late-August event, Duggan was emotional when describing why the charitable side of the event is so important.

“People see this lake and the homes on the lake and figure there is a lot of money in this community,” Duggan explained. “What they don’t realize is that is a small part of the population here, and most of those people don’t live here year round. Our event helps the less fortunate people here—the people who basically make all of their money over five or six months and struggle to make ends meet for the remaining months.”

Upon making the announcement that the 29th annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout donated $200,000 for the first time—last year $195,000 and change was handed out (read the story)—Duggan said the $200,000 level was a number the Shootout committee really wanted to reach this year. He added that the event is going to try to reach the $2.5-million mark for donations in the next 10 years.

“Originally we set out to expand this event to benefit more than just the four fire departments that put on the event,” Duggan said. “We’re very happy happy to surpass the million dollar mark this year. We feel like the sky is the limit for what we’re going to do in the next 10 years.”

Editor’s note: Click the link to download your free copy of the latest issue of Speed On The Water magazine, which includes an extended feature on the 2017 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout.

Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Donates Record-Setting $200,000 to Local Charities

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