The Little Yellow Duck Project is a UK-based international project started in 2014 to raise consciousness of the need for

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

and blood donors and to encourage small random acts of kindness. Participants are invited to knit, crochet or otherwise create small yellow ducks and then leave them in public places to be found by strangers. Each duck has a tag introducing the project, often naming the duck, and encouraging the finder to log on to the project website. There they can record the finding of the duck and learn more about the need for organ, stem cell and blood donors and how to become one. The project was started by British woman Emma Harris in memory of her friend Clare Cruickshank, who died from

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...

aged 26 on 15 April 2013 while waiting for a

double lung transplant Lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation, is a surgical procedure in which one or both lungs are replaced by lungs from a donor. Donor lungs can be retrieved from a living or deceased donor. A living donor can only donate one lung lobe. ...

. Cruickshank had collected

rubber duck A rubber duck or a rubber duckie is a toy shaped like a stylized duck, generally yellow with a flat base. It may be made of rubber or rubber-like material such as vinyl plastic. Rubber ducks were invented in the late 1800s when it became poss ...

s during her life, and this inspired the project. It has received international media coverage including crafting blogs and websites, knitting magazines, and an Australian radio show. The project was launched on 15 April 2014, the first anniversary of Cruickshank's death, and finders in 106 countries had recorded 12,265 ducks.

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External links

* Knitting organizations Stuffed toys Ducks Cystic fibrosis Organ donation Blood donation {{UK-org-stub