Quarter Raffles ARE A


ROUSING SUCCESS I


t was the fi rst warm weekend after a brutal winter in Galesburg, Illinois. It was April 2014 and Auxiliary 2257 members were worried about their


chances of repeating a hugely successful fundraiser they’d sponsored in October 2013. With the nice weather, would people come or wouldn’t they? Last year the Auxiliary had picked


up on a fundraising trend they’d heard about through member Susan Bruns called the “Quarter Raffl e.” “We were so worried it was going


to be a fl op, and it was such a success,” said member Leanne Ash of their fi rst Quarter Raffl e, one she helped organize. T e Auxiliary had formed


committees to divvy up the work. Ash and about eight other members had pounded the pavement contacting local businesses and written to large corporations asking for items to raffl e for donations. Benefactors responded


12 | Ladies Auxiliary VFW Magazine


in a big way, donating more than 100 items, including restaurant coupons, gift cards, Six Flags tickets, even a Chicago Bears autographed picture with running back Matt Forte. From fl iers to Facebook, Ash plastered


announcements of the fundraiser everywhere she went. T e community responded in a big way, too. T ey showed up ready to play, purchasing nearly 200 paddles which they then used to make quarter bids on items Auxiliary members had collected. When the game was done – and after


a lot of fun – more than $2,300 had been raised one silver coin at a time. “We’re a small community and a


small Post with only about 10 active Auxiliary members,” Ash said. “We’re very small, so this was huge for us to have this kind of turnout.” T ey went from expecting failure the fi rst time out to saying, “We’ve got to


Post 2257


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