Raffle raises funds for Yuma Catholic High School

Yuma Catholic High School's largest annual fundraiser is under way and this year, winners will walk off with more bang than ever.

In its ninth year, a gun raffle sponsored by Sprague's Sporting Goods and Keithly Williams Seeds includes 125 guns and three grand prizes: two gun safes and a pair of binoculars.

Richard Sprague, owner of Sprague's Sports, said the guns being raffled are a variety of rifles, pistols and shotguns.

“We try to add prizes every year to keep the odds of winning really good,” said Pat Cooley, owner of Keithly Williams Seeds and chairman of the YCHS board. “It's gotten bigger every year.”

Folks who buy early will have an opportunity to win twice. Twenty-five prizes will be handed out at an early-bird drawing scheduled at the store on Sept. 5, and winners' tickets will go back into the drum for the big drawing on Oct. 16.

“If you buy before, you really increase your odds of winning,” Cooley said.

Sprague said one thing supporters of the event appreciate is the ability to exchange a prize for store credit if they win something they already have or don't need. That credit can also be used at Sprague's sister store, Truck Mates.

The event started off with just 25 guns and has grown each year in both prizes and proceeds. The first raised $14,000 to $15,000 for Yuma Catholic and last year raised a little more than $58,000 in net profit, Cooley said.

Kent Furrow, director of advancement for YCHS, said this fundraiser is unique because it's not run by the school.

“Without them we'd have a rough time making it financially. We definitely need them and applaud them for their efforts. It's just a good thing for us, and it works in Yuma.”

Money from the gun raffle goes into the school's general fund and supports a variety of activities, Furrow said, from academics to athletics to tuition assistance, and helps make up the difference between the cost of providing education and what families pay for tuition.

Sprague said his business sponsors the event as a way of giving back to the community.

“We try to help every chance we can to different fundraising efforts in the community. … This was a natural for us to be involved in because it was our specialty, which is firearms.”

The idea for the fundraiser came from Cooley, who had been a part of a different charity that held a gun raffle about 15 years ago. He got involved with Yuma Catholic during the effort to get it built, and all three of his children attended high school there. He thought of the gun raffle as one way to fundraise.

“It's our single biggest fundraiser at Yuma Catholic today,” he said.

Tickets are available for $25 each or five for $100 at Sprague's or through many parents of YCHS students.

Ticket information

COST: $25 each or five for $100
WHERE: Sprague's Sports & Truck Mates, 345 W. 32nd St.
WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday
INFO: Call 726-0022