Raffle Saves Some Local School Sports
A small group gathered at the Nautilus Diner on Tuesday evening, and even before a single order was placed, the talk was all about the check.
Volunteers for the Tiger Team Booster Club were on their way to present the Mamaroneck School Board with a symbolic check for $30,000. The money had been raised through a raffle and was earmarked to reinstate sports programs that were cut from the 2010-2011 budget.
Although volunteer Diane Muratore had originally hoped to raise $100,000 to save all eight sports — the freshman football, baseball and boys basketball teams, the second modified field hockey, softball, volleyball and girls basketball teams and a second junior varsity boys soccer team — she was still celebrating the group’s success.
"We’re very pleased," she said. "It was a far-reaching goal and we only had a month.
"We did the best we could."
In an email to The Loop, athletic director Bari Suman said other fundraising efforts were ongoing and she was not yet sure which sports would be revived. She said the $30,000 gift was "wonderful," but not enough to bring back all eight sports.
Prior to presenting the board with the gift, the small matter of drawing the winning raffle ticket took place.
Eileen Gerspach, co-founder and former president of the Tiger Team Booster Club, had the honors.The grand prize, won by Renato Leva Jr., was two tickets the July 13 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, two round-trip airline tickets on Jet Blue Airways and a two-night hotel accommodation.
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