by Malcolm Butler
Timothy Parker is the proud owner of a new Ranger side-by-side.
Parker’s name was drawn in a raffle for the 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 drawing held Wednesday was the climax of the Ruston Rotary Club’s annual fall fundraiser. According to Ruston Rotarian Rusty Wilfong, the organization sold approximately $37,000 in raffle tickets over the past few months.
“We were thrilled with the amount of money we raised, and we are very appreciative of everyone who bought tickets to support our causes,” said Wilfong. “One of our biggest organizations we support is Med Camps. We sold tickets at their annual Fall Bash that Med Camps hosts. Tim Parker bought his tickets at the Fall Bash which I think is really cool.”
Wilfong said the Rotary Club won’t know their exact net-profit on the fundraiser for another few days.
Ruston Rotary Club undertakes numerous local service projects each year.
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.
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 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).
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