one-five Foundation Hosts 50/50 Raffle to Support District 15

The one-five Foundation is hosting the third annual 50/50 Raffle through March 17, 2021. The Foundation retains half of the proceeds to fund initiatives that support the students of Community Consolidated School District 15 (District 15) and the winner of this year’s raffle will win half the proceeds collected from ticket sales, up to $30,000. A maximum of 600 tickets will be sold.

The Foundation has identified two specific programs to support this year: Blessings in a Backpack and Flexible Seating for Library Media Centers.

Blessings in a Backpack provides a bag of healthy food at the end of each week to students in need. More than 2,400 elementary students in District 15 rely on free breakfasts and lunches at school through the Federal Free & Reduced Price Meal program. These meals are often the only reliable source of nutrition students have during the week. However, this Federal program does not extend to feeding these children on the weekend. Through Blessings in a Backpack, students are sent home with a bag of healthy food at the end of the week to help provide nutritional meals when school is not in session. This program is currently in place in several of the district’s schools, serving about 700 students. There are 1,700 additional children who would benefit from this program, but the Foundation does not have enough funding to support this need. For every $140 raised, one child will be fed over the weekend for an entire school year. Funding raised through the raffle ticket sales will directly benefit this program.

The second major Foundation initiative will directly benefit all students through the addition of updated, modern, flexible seating in the media centers. Libraries are not just used for reading anymore. Libraries or library media centers (LRC) are the learning hubs of the schools, utilized for everything from STEM activities to club gatherings to guest speakers. The current furniture in these spaces makes it hard to pivot and change activities easily. The heavy tables, chairs and bookshelves are difficult to move around, and are not intended for the creative, collaborative activities taking place in school libraries today. The Foundation has a goal to raise nearly $200,000 to outfit all of District 15’s school libraries with flexible seating, so these spaces can be used more effectively, resulting in improved outcomes for District 15’s students.

In addition to these major initiatives, raffle proceeds will support other ongoing projects of the Foundation.

In 2019, the raffle winner received $16,500 and in 2020 the winner took home $13,350. Funds can be used for any purpose the winner chooses, and tickets can be purchased by a group of people who would then split the winnings.

The raffle drawing will take place live at noon on March 17, 2021 through the District 15 Facebook page. Online tickets sales and complete raffle rules, terms and conditions are available at www.one-five.org/50-50-raffle.

The mission of the one-five Foundation is to acquire resources to be used for programs and projects to enhance and supplement the educational experience of District 15 students. For more information, visit www.one-five.org.