The Concord University Cheerleading squad teamed up with the university’s athletic training department to hold a Coach and Sabika Jewelry BINGO fundraiser on Saturday, October 4.
“We are raising money to send the Concord Cheerleaders to college nationals in Walt Disney World, Florida, and we’re also raising money for the athletic training program for supplies,” explains Concord University cheerleading coach, Sara Blankenship. “I think they actually want to update the athletic training room,” she says.
The event featured a myriad of prizes including Coach handbags and wallets as well as jewelry from Sakiba. With each round of BINGO, the prize value increased, the final prize being a Coach bag worth a whopping $328.00. The event also held two raffles and gave away a Sabika necklace and bracelet set and a Tailgate Essentials kit consisting of a cooler, snacks, coupons, and other various pregame necessities.
The Coach and Sabika BINGO event was the first fundraiser of its kind for the Cheerleading squad, but they’re no strangers to fundraising in general. “Oh gosh, we’ve sold cups, we’ve done raffles, we do the 50/50 drawing at every football game, we sell t-shirts, we’ve sold candy, donuts, jewelry, you name it and we’ve done it[…]but you have to try something new every now and then,” says Blankenship on the squad’s previous fundraising attempts.
The BINGO had a successful turnout, guests pouring into the Main Gymnasium of the Carter Center upwards of thirty minutes before the event was scheduled to begin. Blankenship is hopeful that the success of the first event is indicative of more fundraising success to come. “Hopefully we can do this again in the future!” she says.
Blankenship and the rest of the Concord University Cheerleaders along with the Athletic Training department would like to sincerely thank the many sponsors in the area that so generously made this event possible.