Perry Elementary Center PTO raised around $14,000 with the community’s help during its third annual Bingo/Raffle fundraising event on April 19 at the Hamburg Field House.
All 250 tickets for the Coach/Vera Bradley Bingo sold out prior to the event, but more than 100 raffle items were lined up against the bleachers during the event for those that were not able to get a Bingo ticket. Long tables were packed with eager Bingo players hoping to get one of the popular Coach and Vera Bradley bags as a prize.
“It was a great event! It was nice to see peoples’ smiles when they saw the Coach/Vera Bradley bags in person vs. on our Perry PTO Coach/Vera Bradley Bingo Facebook event page,” said Yvonne Stitzel, chair of the event. “PTO members received many compliment from attendees.”
While some had their eyes glued to their Bingo cards, others walked around browsing the various raffle items. Among the more than 100 raffle items were Disney hopper passes, NASCAR race tickets for Pocono Raceway, Keurig 2.0 K450, three Coach bags, five Vera Bradley bags, 32″ LG TV, Dutch Wonderland tickets, IMAX movie tickets, Family Four Pack of Adventure Passes to Lake Tobias, Dutch Apple Theatre Tickets, Maryland Science Center passes, That Bounce Place for Basic Party, Shady Maple gift certificate, Portrait Innovations gift certificate and many more.
“My favorite part of the day was hearing the excitement of people yelling Bingo. Also, watching the face of the winners when raffle tickets were drawn,” said Stitzel.
This event was even more important this year as the PTO funds have been low following the $50,000 the PTO was asked to raise for the building of the new Perry Elementary Center playground. PTO members were hoping to rebuild the account in order to supply for students’ needs. Proceeds from the event benefit the students at Perry by providing education assemblies, field trips, classroom supplies, Weekly Readers and more.
“Many were shocked to see the amount of raffle items and pleasantly surprised to see how nice the raffle items were in person,” said Stitzel. “Some said the Coach/Vera Bradley bags were bigger than they expected.”
“The baked goods were a huge hit as well as the food,” she added. “Some felt that we should have sold more tickets, which we considered during the planning stages, however, we felt it would lower the chances of winning.”
Along with the Bingo game, raffle items and door prize, various vendors were also set up on site for those looking to make sure they left with something in case their chance at the raffle did not work out.
“I want to thank everyone who helped to make our event successful. Many of our area businesses sponsored a Coach or Vera Bradley bag, gave a monetary or general donation, or donated a raffle item. I ask that everyone support our local/small businesses because without them, our fundraising efforts would not have been what they were,” said Stitzel.