A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
As part of the raffle drive at Queen of Peace Catholic School in Cloquet, top-selling families were recognized each week, and everyone who sold a ticket got a chance for a "dollar jump," where dollar bills are placed on the floor and selected students get to jump over them, keeping whatever bills they clear in the jump. The events were a chance to see how much money had been raised in the six-week drive, which netted the school nearly $20,000. First-graders were the top-selling class each week.
Students and staff at Queen of Peace Catholic School raised $19,665 in six weeks through its Catholic Schools Raffle this winter. Teachers, staff and the surrounding community of Cloquet united with students and their families beginning Jan. 14 when students started selling $5 raffle tickets, part of a fundraising program provided free of charge by sponsor Catholic United Financial since 2009.
Queen of Peace Catholic School is one of 86 schools in Minnesota and South Dakota that took part in 2022. School leadership set an ambitious fundraising goal and Catholic United Financial provided all promotional materials, raffle tickets and prizes at no cost.
Schools keep every dollar spent on tickets. The six-week selling period concluded Feb. 28. On March 10 the raffle officially concluded with a prize drawing ceremony broadcast live on the Catholic United Financial website. The prizes, valued at more than $45,000, included a new 2022 Ford Escape SUV, a vacation package, a grill and grill set, televisions and more. A woman from Buffalo won the SUV. Other prizes weren't announced immediately, as winners are being verified.
Catholic United also rewarded the hard work of the top-selling student at Queen of Peace Catholic School with a Baby Yoda LEGO set and a chance at winning $500. The top seller happened to be not one student but the entire Ben and Joy Brekke family, with children Eleanor, Adelaide, Peter and Irene. Ben is a second-grade teacher at the school.
Funds raised by participating schools are used to enhance school programs and facilities, including funding field trips, building playgrounds, supplementing tuition costs and providing new education technology.
