Officials from Petal Primary School PTO are currently holding their fifth annual Disney Raffle, the school’s largest fundraiser of the year, which will help fund two additional iPads for each classroom on campus and upgrades to playgrounds.
During the fundraiser, which lasts throughout this month, parents who wish to participate can check their children’s red folders that are sent home by the school daily, which recently included 10 tickets to the raffle. Tickets are $5 each.
“Of course, our PTO raises a good bit of funds for us every year, so we’re always looking to do things we can put right back in the classroom for the kids who raise those funds,” primary school principal Tessa Trimm said. “Our teachers have expressed that they want enough (iPads) for a (learning) center, and for three to four kids to have an iPad in a center.”
The student who sells the winning ticket will receive a $2,500 Disney gift card, as will the purchaser of that ticket. In addition, on Oct. 1 the school will host a Disney dress-up day to celebrate the end of the fundraiser, along with a Facebook Live event of the ticket drawing on the primary school’s PTO page.
“What I love about this fundraiser is that no matter what, there will be a winner from Petal Primary School,” Trimm said. “I just think that’s important, that we have a winner here; it puts parents in the opportunity that they have a chance to win without even buying anything.
“And the (dress-up day) is a lot of fun; each grade level, the teachers have a theme, and then of course our office staff has a theme. So the kids can dress up as their favorite Disney character that day, and we just have a lot of fun throughout the day.”
Parents who do not wish to participate in the fundraiser can indicate so on the form that is provided with the raffle tickets.
“Of course, if parents don’t want to participate, they can just send those (tickets) back; it’s not a problem at all,” Trimm said. “We cand send those home to someone who wants to participate doubly.
“Once those 10 tickets are sold, if the parents want some more, they can just reach out to the teacher and we’ll send some more home with them.”
Last year’s Disney Raffle raised more than $60,000 for the primary school’s first- and second-grade playgrounds. This year, officials are hoping to raise $50,000 for the iPads, as well as a new concrete pad and basketball goals on the kindergarten playground.
“We have 52 homerooms, so that’s over 150 iPads, which is a lot of money,” Trimm said. “But we feel like we’re going to be able to put a big dent in that, just through this fundraiser.”
As of Sept. 16, the Disney Raffle had already brought in $30,000, which is more than half of this year’s $50,000 goal.
“We exceeded that last year; I don’t know how we raised $60,000, but that was unbelievable,” Trimm said. “We set our goal at $50,000 (this year) because that’s typically what we raise.
“So we’re going to be excited if we meet that goal.”
