Grand Prize Winner Jim Downey of Santa Cruz
Drive for Schools, the largest school fundraiser in Santa Cruz County, raised $690,740 for local schools this year.
Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Subaru of Santa Cruz and Toyota of Santa Cruz, Drive for Schools has raised over $6.8 million for Santa Cruz County schools since the program started in 2005.
St Francis High in Watsonville raised the most money of any school this year, bringing in $30,300. Valencia Elementary School raised $29,542 and Watsonville Charter School of the Arts raised $25,677. More than 70 county schools participated.
The winner of this year’s Grand Prize drawing was Jim Downey of Santa Cruz.
Jim purchased 6 tickets from Branciforte Middle School. Given the choice of a new Subaru Crosstrek, Toyota Prius or $25,000 cash, Jim chose the cash. A retired painting contractor, Jim plans to take a vacation to celebrate his 40th Anniversary.
In addition to the Grand Prize, other ticket holders won valuable prizes donated by local businesses, including ten $1,000 cash prizes, a $1,000 gift certificate from Dell Williams Jewelers; overnight stays at Santa Cruz Dream Inn, Carmel Valley Ranch and Coastanoa; Tickets to a Golden State Warriors game, plus dozens of other valuable gift certificates for dining, sailing, and merchandise.
Drive for Schools runs for 5 weeks every fall. Toyota of Santa Cruz, Subaru of Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk share the cost of the car and cash prizes as well as donate staff time to organize and run the fundraiser. Hundreds of school volunteers coordinate their school’s ticket sales. Dozens of local businesses donate valuable prizes for the event. Tickets and posters are printed by Mission Printers.
Each participating school keeps all of the money they raise, with no overhead costs. Local schools report using the money raised for valuable art, music, science, and sports programs, classroom reading aids and computers.
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A complete list of all prizes and winners can be found at https://beachboardwalk.com/drive-for-schools.