Students from several schools in the St. Cloud Diocese are joining in Catholic United Financial’s Catholic Schools Raffle by selling $5 tickets through Feb. 26. Those buying raffle tickets are eligible to win a 2017 Jeep Compass (or $20,000 in cash), vacation packages or other prizes totaling $40,000.
Participating schools within the diocese include Holy Family in Albany, St. Andrew in Elk River, Sacred Heart in Freeport, St. John’s-St. Andrew’s in Greenwald, Mary of Lourdes in Little Falls, St. Mary’s in Melrose, St. Mary’s in Morris, St. Agnes in Osakis, Holy Cross in Pearl Lake/Marty, St. Henry’s Area in Perham, Sts. Peter and Paul in Richmond, St. Francis Xavier in Sartell, Holy Family in Sauk Centre, St. Wendelin in Luxemburg and St. Mary, Help of Christians in St. Augusta.
Students from 82 schools in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota are taking part in the Raffle.
Every school keeps 100 percent of every ticket sold. CUF covers the entire cost of the prizes and promotional materials. The official drawing will take place at 11 a.m. March 9 at CUF’s home office in St. Paul.
In addition to the money generated in ticket sales, the top-three performing schools will win a $3,000 grant from CUF. The company also awards the top-selling student at each school a Kindle Fire HD 8 and a pizza party to each top classroom.
In the raffle’s seven-year existence, it has helped Catholic schools in the Diocese of St. Cloud raise over $904,000 — allowing them to provide tuition assistance, improve technology and pay for special learning opportunities, such as field trips and guest speakers.