Two lucky winners took home $100 each on the first night that Grand Raffle tickets went on sale by The Partnership for Educational Excellence. Andrew Brummett of Edwardsville and Nickie Barrett of Gillespie, on behalf of her infant daughter Violet Bellovich, were “early bird” buyers at this month’s “For the Love of Education” trivia night sponsored by The Partnership for Educational Excellence.
“This is our third Grand Raffle,” explains John Fassero, Jr., president and founding member of the education foundation. “We have had an outstanding response to the drawing for two years, and 2018 is no exception. Tickets are reportedly going faster than ever.”
Tickets are $20, and only 500 will be sold. “This makes the odds of winning excellent,” notes Fassero. All proceeds from this year’s raffle will be used to increase Partnership scholarships from $500 each to $1,000 each.
“We have previously kept our awards modest so that we could recognize the greatest number of Gillespie High School (GHS) graduates,” says Fassero. “Considering that we routinely award scholarships to 20% to 30% of each GHS graduating class, and considering that post-secondary education costs have soared, we’re raising funds to offer more help to more students.”
The drawing for a single grand prize of $5,000 will be at Ben-Gil Elementary School’s spaghetti dinner on Palm Sunday, March 25. Any tickets left on that day can be purchased at the spaghetti dinner. Meanwhile they can be purchased at Hicks Maytag Appliances in Gillespie; by contacting any Partnership director*; or by getting in touch via e-mail at info@thepartnership7.org
Current Partnership directors are Rosie Emmenderfer; John Fassero; Nanci Grandone; Donna Prevedell; Katie Ronald; Ann Marie Bauer Ross; Carole Scheller; Susan Stromsland; Rose Tebbe; Don Throne; and Julie Zirkelbach.
Director Katie Ronald and Early Bird Winner Andrew Brummett
Director Katie Ronald and Early Bird Winner Nikki Barrett