Volkswagen fundraiser a massive success for local schools

Wallace Jr./Sr. High School hosted a special raffle over the weekend during their boys preseason basketball jamboree.

Over the last several months some of the local, small school districts in North Idaho including Mullan, Kellogg and Wallace have been selling raffle tickets for a 2017 Volkswagen Jetta.

The car was donated for the fundraiser by Post Falls Volkswagen at no cost to the schools, which has allowed 100 percent of the fundraiser proceeds to stay with the schools.

According to Chris Finch, an administrator from Genesis Prep, more than 3,700 tickets were sold.

At $10 a ticket, that means the schools raised more than $37,000.

During the intermission of the jamboree, Wallace athletic director Bruce Bailey brought Herb and Kathy Zanetti, and Jonah Namson with Post Falls Volkswagen, as well as Finch onto the court to address the crowd and to draw the winner.

“We are excited to get to be a part of such a unique fundraiser,” Kathy Zanetti said. “Giving these eight school districts the opportunity to raise a large amount money. We hope that this fundraiser was able to bring the student body’s closer to their communities. We at Post Falls Volkswagen were adamant that 100 percent of the proceeds from the tickets sales went back to the schools who participated.”

The schools got to work as independent contractors for the fundraiser as well, so whereas over $37,000 was raised, each school was able keep 100 percent of the proceeds of their own ticket sales.

Bailey was thrilled with the entire day and was thankful for the impressive turnout for the jamboree event.

“Anytime Wallace can host an 8-team basketball jamboree and raffle off a car at the same time is exciting,” Bailey said. “This doesn’t happen very often. It was a great turnout and we would all like to thank Herb, Kathy and Jonah at Post Falls Volkswagen for their generous donation. The money raised will help all of our students with so many things.”

The car was won by a ticket buyer who purchased their ticket from a student at Kootenai High School.

The money can be used by the schools at their discretion with a preference toward extracurricular activities.