A Raffle Success Story
Why Ñ–Ñ• the rðfflõ a simple, õffõÑÂtÑ–võ, and рþtõntіðllу Ñ€rþfÑ–tðblõ wðу tþ rðіѕõ fundÑ• for уþur gþþd ÑÂðuѕõ?
“ImрðÑÂt a LÑ–fõ†scholarship ÑÂþntrÑ–butþr Cassidy Morgan Buck dõtðіlÑ• õxðÑÂtlу whу уþur organization Ñ•hþuld ÑÂþnÑ•Ñ–dõr ѕõllÑ–ng rðfflõ tÑ–ÑÂkõtÑ• as a рðrt þf your nõxt fundrðіѕõr. It’s not only profitable for your favorite cause, but it’s lots of fun.
Cassidy is a freshman and goes to Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia where she is pursuing a degree in Special Education. Thanks Cassidy, and best of luck!
“Impact a Life†Scholarship contributor: Cassidy Morgan Buck
Yþu ÑÂðn hõlÑ€ Cassidy Morgan Buck’s pursuit þf a scholarship award bу ÑÂlÑ–ÑÂkÑ–ng the “sharing Ñ–Ñ• ÑÂðrÑ–ng†buttþnÑ• bõlþw.
I have personally been involved in a raffle conducted by my Dance Company. The Roswell Dance Theater is a 501c3 organization operating within the Tolbert-Yilmaz School of Dance (TYSOD) in Roswell, Georgia. As an active member of the dance company for 6 years, the raffle is a way to fund the Company in their endeavors throughout the year. We have the largest local production of The Nutcracker Ballet each year, with over 150 dancers and 200 volunteers. Much of the money collected by the sale of the raffle tickets goes for the rental of the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, which we use for 12 performances over 2 weekends beginning the day after Thanksgiving and running through the first weekend of December. We also pay for people to do the lighting as well as the backdrop care. WE rent a warehouse to store all of our props and volunteers keep them in perfect shape.
The winners of the raffle are announced the night of the Gala. There are 3 winners, each receiving $1000. The tickets are sold by the members of the company and their families, and each member is expected to sell a minimum of 5 tickets each. During the 2015-2016 Dance year, I served as the Ballet Company Dance Co-Captain and the Modern Company Dance Captain. These positions are voted on by members of each dance company and it was a huge honor to be chosen during my Senior year. I still currently still work at TYSOD as a receptionist and fill in teaching dance classes when my school schedule permits. The benefits of the raffle to RDT are immense. It allows the dancers to sell tickets to family and friends and lets them focus their time to their passion of dance. The raffle of 2016 was the 3rd raffle that RDT conducted and was a huge success.
Several of the dancers in the production had personal connections to the winners of the raffle, which was very exciting as they were waiting backstage to dance!  The benefits to the community, besides the cash awards, are to increase cultural awareness to dance and to provide local access to cultural events involving talented dancers. Many of our dancers have gone on to professional careers in Dance Companies around the world.
We also do a Spring Show, which last year was Alice In Wonderland. This year, the company is performing Sleeping Beauty. The interesting thing about the performances that we offer is that we have special shows designated for schools and assisted living facilities that are shorter in length, while still showcasing the beauty of the ballet. We offer shows that offer backstage tours for Girl Scouts as well as a VIP Gala Show. The raffle also lets the community know that the Dance company is a non-profit organization that serves the community through dance.
The Company also has an “Angel Tree†around the winter holidays for people in the small community of Coalmont, Tennessee. We each try to adopt a family and provide Christmas for them. But, as you may not realize, our Company isn’t large enough to provide for each resident. So, the Dance Company helps to fill in the gaps as needed to give each needy person, regardless of age, in Coalmont a gift for Christmas
.