Ricardo Gonzalez ’21

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This year’s pandemic has brought new challenges to students and faculty alike for Strake Jesuit’s annual Spring Raffle ticket collection in support of financial aid. With a limited in-person contact, students have had to get creative with their ticket sales. 

Many believe it was easier to sell tickets during last year’s raffle with access to parish visits, physical tickets, and outside sales. 

“One of the difficulties with this raffle is that we aren’t able to do any parish sales,” Class President Damien Morales ’21 said. “Those were the sales where I would get the most from.”

Another challenge is that sellers are required to refer their clients to a website instead of directly receiving payment, creating room for error. 

“Just like with any new process, there has been a learning curve on teaching how to use the software to purchase tickets,” Sheri Bordelon, Special Events Coordinator of the Strake Jesuit Office of Advancement, said.

There is also the difficulty incentivizing students to sell tickets. 

“Most of the incentives target on-campus learners,” Damien Morales ’21 said. “It is difficult to target remote learners.”

With four-day weeks, students have not placed the value that they did last year on the additional free day. 

“Students are not as motivated by the Raffle Holidays because they are already accustomed to four-day school weeks,” Mrs. Bordelon said.

Nevertheless, the pandemic had brought about new improvements to the traditional sales methods. Students can now sell tickets to distant family and friends. The frequency of sales updates has increased. Purchasers have been more inclined to buy more tickets due to a new purchasing method: credit cards.

“We have more students than ever before who have doubled their quota and more $1K plus sellers than in the history of the Raffle,” Mrs. Bordelon said.

While students have faced unprecedented difficulties selling tickets, the need for financial aid has not gone away. Now more than ever, the Strake Jesuit community must prevail to continue this essential tradition of service.