GREAT FALLS — Crosstown week in Great Falls means football and a truck giveaway and there’s still time to get into the drawing for this new set of wheels.
If you’re in the market for a new truck, there’s still time to take your chances on a crosstown football raffle. It's been a mainstay of the Bison Rustler rivalry for years. And on Friday night, another lucky winner will be announced.
One lucky winner will take home a new Toyota Tacoma from City Motors, capping off the signature fundraiser for the Great Falls Public Schools Foundation.
“We've raised already about $110,000, which is remarkable. The community is ready for it every year and they step up to the plate and support their students and the teachers,” said Great Falls Public Schools Executive Director Stephanie Becker. “So, it's really exciting.”
The fundraiser began when City Motors and the foundation saw a need for another arm of funding for Great Falls schools.
“They kind of came across this idea of, “Hey, let's donate a truck and let's figure out how from the ticket sales, to put some dollars aside for the foundation itself and put some dollars aside for each ticket sale for the group that actually sold the ticket,” said City Motors President Cooper Thomas.
“There's a number of athletic groups, drama groups, other school groups that fundraise through this program,” said Becker. “And $6 for every $10 ticket that they sell goes back to them for whatever fundraising efforts they might have in mind, for equipment, for jerseys, other things of that nature.”
Ticket sales that don’t go through school groups go directly to a grant program.
“Teachers have the opportunity to apply for grants to consider new ways to engage students and to be innovative in the way that they approach the learning for the students in their classroom,” said Becker.
Since 2013, the foundation’s raffle has raised $1.1 million.
Thomas says the donation of the truck can serve as an example for other businesses in giving back. He says it enforces his company’s belief in the school system
“We have great faculty, great staff, great administrators and great students,” said Thomas. “And we want to be good stewards and seeing that go forward into the future and want to be a partner in all of their success.”
2nd prize is a $1000 Scheel’s gift card.
While online ticket sales have closed, tickets can still be purchased at the GFPS Foundation office and participating businesses including Scheel’s and City Toyota as well as at the concession stand at Friday’s game through the first quarter.
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