What better fundraiser for folks living in Sportsman’s Paradise than selling tickets for a chance to win a Ranger Side-by-Side.
That’s what the Ruston Rotary Club is doing.
With all proceeds from ticket sales going to fund community-related projects, the Ruston Rotary Club is raffling off tickets for $10 with a chance to win a Polaris Ranger 1000 with a Load-and-Go 12-foot trailer valued at over $23,000. The Ranger 1000 accessories include Front Half Door, Lock & Ride Pro-Fit Rear Glass, Fixed Windshield, and Sports Poly Roof.
“The Rotary Club of Ruston has been doing good in Ruston and beyond for over 80 years,” said Kevin Smith, President of the Ruston Rotary Club. “This is the major fundraiser that supports many of our projects including scholarships for high school seniors, dictionaries for 3rd graders, coats for children, backpacks of food for students, and many other projects.”
Tickets will go on sale this week and the fundraiser is a coordinated project of Karl Malone Power Sports and Team Karl Malone Auto Group and the Ruston Rotary Club.
“We are pleased to be part of this effort to raise funds and give back to the community,” said Ruston Rotarian and Service manager at Karl Malone Toyota Rusty Wilfong.
Individuals can purchase tickets from any Ruston Rotary Club member and the Ranger 1000 side-by-side will be displayed at different locations over the next 12 weeks. Tickets may also be purchased at service department of Karl Malone Toyota, or by calling Rusty Wilfong at 318-224-3543.
The drawing will be held October 30 at the noon meeting of the Ruston Rotary Club.
Fundraiser benefits the community
Ruston Rotary undertakes numerous local service projects each year. Funds generated from the $10 ticket donation will be used for many school and community projects
One of these is the Backpack food program Ruston Rotary started under the direction of Allen Tuten in Ruston about 15 years ago. Bags of easy access food are placed into a child’s back pack to be consumed over the weekend. Students needing this nutritional help are selected by their teachers.
“We started at one school helping about sixty students each week,” said Tuten. “After a couple of years other organizations partnered with the effort in leading and support roles. Now hundreds of food insecure students are helped each week.”
The program is now under the direction of the United Way in coordination with Super 1 Foods.
Other community related projects include Coats for Kids, dictionaries, student scholarship, Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) and more. Last fall, the Ruston Rotary Club gave away 225 Coats for Kids to schools in Lincoln and Jackson Parishes in coordination with the Children’s Shoppe and Jonesboro State Bank. Each year the Ruston Rotary Club donates dictionaries to Lincoln Parish third grade students across the parish and will again kick off this project this year.
Each month during the school year, Chris Barr leads the Ruston Rotary Club in hosting high school seniors from Ruston, Choudrant, Lincoln Prep, Simsboro and Cedar Creek highlighting their high school careers and future college plans.
“These meetings are generally our highest attended monthly meeting and every member and guest listens intently to the student’s speech,” said Ruston Rotarian Jerry Pye.
These students speak of their accomplishments and future plans. Every year during the month of May, the Ruston Rotary Club donates four $2,000 scholarships to high school seniors for college.
Ruston Rotary provided for three Lincoln Parish students (one from Cedar Creek, Ruston High and Choudrant High) to attend RYLA held every year at Outdoor Wilderness Learning Center in Dubach (OWL Center).
