Fundraiser heaven-sent
LOREN BENOIT/Press Canfield Middle School students watch 2,500 ping pong balls dropped from a 45-foot crane by their principal, Nick Lilyquist, outside the school Monday morning. The ping pong balls were sold for $5 each, for a PTA fundraiser. Only students who sold balls were invited to watch the drop while eating snow cones. Prizes were awarded for the balls which landed closest to and farthest from the hole, as well as the top sellers from each class.
By MATTHEW GWIN
Staff Writer
COEUR d’ALENE — Instead of sitting in class Monday morning, students at Canfield Middle School watched a man in a gorilla suit drop ping-pong balls from the sky.
No, “Planet of the Apes” wasn’t filming in Coeur d’Alene — the Canfield PTA was holding its second ping-pong ball drop fundraiser.
This year, the event raised $4,700 to support teacher grants and the eighth-grade mentors program, according to event organizer Nancy Hart.
“We just kind of made it up as we went last year, and it ended up going so well that we decided to do it again,” Hart said.
The fundraiser deviates from the typical model in which students go door-to-door peddling coupon books or magazine subscriptions, instead working more like a raffle.
First, a total of 2,500 tickets were distributed among the student body. Students then sold as many tickets as possible to family, friends and neighbors at $5 each.
Similar to a lottery, each ticket receives a number from 1 to 2,500 that corresponds to a ping-pong ball. In other words, whoever purchased ticket No. 10 owns the rights to ping-pong ball No. 10.
The owner of the ball that drops closest to the designated target wins a $150 check, while the owner of the ball that lands farthest away collects $50.
Once all the ping-pong balls were numbered and placed in a large bag, Principal Nick Lilyquist — clad in a gorilla costume — climbed aboard a crane and dropped all the balls from about 20 feet.
Kids who sold three or more tickets were invited to ditch class for an hour to enjoy a snow cone with friends and watch the show.
Several students were also recognized for being the top sellers in their respective grade levels.
Nathan Melendez led the pack in sixth grade with 50 tickets sold; Trinity Gaffield earned the honor for seventh grade with 36 sold; and Gracie Averill topped sales among eighth-grade students with 19.
Melendez, Gaffield and Averill were each awarded a $25 Dutch Bros gift certificate.