NAHANT — Community members raised more than $3,000 for Steven Thibeault, the owner of American black duck and 2020 Essex Media Group “Person” of the Year Cheerio.
In the three days since Thibeault, who recently lost his job as an apartment complex grounds manager, published his GoFundMe to raise enough money to pay his bills and stay in Nahant, the man-duck duo has received 76 different donations, ranging from $10 to $110.
“I lost my job after 21 years working at that beautiful property you have seen many times on Cheerio’s Instagram. This happened last week and after doing a lot of thinking about life, family, and health I have come to the realization I need help. This will be a big change for myself and Cheerio and my first priority is to make sure I can stay in Nahant for Cheerio while we figure out what this new chapter of our life will bring,” Thibeault wrote.
Thibeault said he wants to ensure that he and Cheerio can stay in their current Nahant apartment — the only home Cheerio has ever known aside from Thibeault’s previous workplace. His second priority, Thibeault wrote in his GoFundMe, is to work on some of his own health issues.
“I have some issues that need to be addressed and will not work until I know what this beat-up body can handle and I can put 100% of myself into whatever is next,” Thibeault wrote.
Having made a splash globally among its nearly 18,000 Instagram followers, Cheerio has been a local celebrity since 2017, when Thibeault, then a grounds manager at Bass Point Apartments, discovered the newborn duckling struggling to escape the apartment complex’s pool.
After his best efforts to unite Cheerio with its mother, the duckling quickly attached itself to Thibeault, refusing to leave his side and following him home at the end of each workday.
“I’ve worked with him since he was a duckling,” Thibeault said in a 2020 interview. “I’d just whistle, and he’d know that was his cue to come to me. Within five to 10 minutes, he’d come flying in from wherever he was and we’d go home.”
The heartwarming story of Cheerio and Thibeault attracted the attention and love of thousands. In 2018, the duck spent a day as a Nahant Police officer under the care of officer Timothy Furlong, who is now the department’s chief.
In 2020, Cheerio became the first-ever non-human to be inducted as a Nahant Historical Society lifetime member. That same year, Essex Media Group named Cheerio as the Nahant Person of the Year.
