What if you could spend $100 for a chance to win $10,000. What if, instead of supporting a casino to do this, you could give back to the community?
That is the goal of the United Way of Lowndes and Noxubee Counties $50k Your Way fundraiser.
“We are going to give away $10,000 to five lucky winners on Aug. 24,” said Renee Sanders, executive director for the organization. “We wanted to spread the love and the wealth. If a person buys a ticket, they have five opportunities to win $10,000. It’s a little different from some of the other United Ways.”
The organization decided to think outside the box for this year’s fundraiser, and that is how the idea for five winners was born.
“Last year we raffled away a car, and only one lucky person walked away with that car,” Sanders said “People were saying, ‘There’s only going to be one winner.’ Because of that, I was trying to think of a unique way for us to have more people walk away as winners. We could have done 10 winners at $5,000 each, but doesn’t $10,000 sound a whole lot better? You spend $100 and could win $10,000.”
The group has a goal to sell 2,500 tickets, which would be about $250,000 raised. All of this money goes back into the group to help with the work it does. United Way does not provide a direct service, Sanders said. Instead, it provides assistance to local nonprofits that do provide the direct services.
“United Way is not federally funded,” Sanders said. “We have to raise our funds to operate. We do that through fundraisers and grants and campaigns. In order for us to raise more money, we have to think outside of the box and find different ways to raise those funds. This is a unique, fun way. We tested the water just to see how well people will respond. They have responded so well with the ticket sales so far.”
The board of directors is behind the idea as well.
“I think anytime you give more than one person the opportunity to win a large amount, it’s going to increase the opportunity for more people to be impacted,” said Board President Jay Fisher. “We hope that it will increase the interest.”
Sanders said it was equally important to remind people that not everybody will win the money. However, she doesn’t want the others to be discouraged because all of the proceeds will be poured into the community.
“I think it’s important to remind everyone that five people will walk away extremely happy,” Sanders said. “The other 2,495 people have to know that they are giving back to the community. The funds are going to help United Way do more of what United Way does.”
Fisher said the board is happy to have Sanders as the executive director, and that she brings useful skills and ideas to the table.
“From a board perspective, she is always looking for ways to do more for United Way and our community,” Fisher said. “We are just lucky to have her and the amount of effort she puts into making sure United Way is doing everything it can to help folks. Pretty much anytime she comes to us with an idea, she’s going to get board support because we know that it’s going to turn right around and help people in the community.”
Tickets for the raffle, which are $100, can be purchased at 50kyourway.org, or at one of the BOGO ticket sales events the group holds in the different counties. The events are typically posted on social media.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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