2018 brought another successful Catholic Schools Raffle at St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton School. Teachers, staff and the surrounding community of Hastings united with students and their families to raise an outstanding total of $12,755 for the school. Since January 12, students of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton have been selling $5 raffle tickets as part of the Catholic Schools Raffle, a fundraising program provided free of charge by sponsor Catholic United Financial since 2009. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is one of 84 schools in Minnesota and the Dakotas that were involved in 2018.
Before that January start date, school leadership set an ambitious fundraising goal. Catholic United Financial provided all promotional materials, raffle tickets and prizes for the program at no cost. As the tickets were sold and money came in, families and staff counted their total. They were excited to know that they keep every dollar raised during the six-week ticket selling period, which ended February 25. The Raffle officially concluded on March 7 with a prize drawing ceremony streamed live on the Catholic United Financial website. The prizes, valued at over $40,000, included a new 2018 Chevy Trax SUV, vacation and travel packages, iPads, Smart TVs and more.
Catholic United also rewarded the hard work of the top student classroom at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton with a pizza party and the top selling student won a new self-propelled WowWee robot. Funds raised by participating schools, like St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton School, are used to enhance school programs and facilities, including funding field trips, building playgrounds, supplementing tuition costs and providing new education technology.
