Rotary selling raffle tickets to raise scholarship funds

The Maricopa Rotary Club has partnered with UltraStar Multi-Tainment to develop a raffle ticket program to raise money for the Rotary Club’s scholarship program.

The club will be raffling off various packages each month. The packages will feature food and entertainment offered at UltraStar. The money raised through the raffle will go to the Rotary scholarship fund.

“The Rotary Club is really happy that we’ve been able to support our students with these scholarships,” Rotary Club immediate past President JoAnn Ortega said. “For the past several years, whatever we’ve given, we’ve been matched by the city. So if we raise $3,000, we’ve been able to give $6,000.”

The goal of the raffle is to once again raise $3,000 for the scholarship fund. To add incentive, UltraStar is offering 50 percent off pizza or chicken wings for anyone who buys a raffle ticket.

The scholarships are offered to the Rotary Club’s students of the month. Each student is required to write an essay revolving around the Rotary Club’s “four-way test.” The essays are judged, and whichever student the club feels best exhibits their values is awarded the scholarship.

The “four-way test” is designed to make each student look inward to answer the guiding principles of the Rotary Club. Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

“The [four-way test] is what we live by,” Maricopa Rotary Club Vice President Alma Farrell said. “Every May we send out an application to all the Rotary Students of the month. Each student is given the opportunity to write what the four-way test means to them. Mid-school students of the month and high school seniors in Interact (high school Rotary Club) are eligible for the scholarship.”

One student from each middle school in Maricopa will be awarded a scholarship. These students can apply the money toward necessary items needed for the transition to high school.

***ADVERTISEMENT***“The winners get to spend their money at Maricopa High School,” Farrell said. “They just show us their [Maricopa High School] registration, and we give them the check. Then they can get iPads or whatever they need to start school as incoming freshman.”

The raffle tickets will cost $5, and can be purchased through the Maricopa Rotary Club, UltraStar, or the school. Raffle winners will be announced each month starting in June. First prize winners will receive the UltraStar Multi-Tainment packages, and second prize winners will receive a six-month membership to Copper Sky Recreation Complex.