By Doug Berg
On March 1, 1976, Dr. Donald Draayer, Superintendent of Schools for the Minnetonka district, issued a memo to various administrators and teachers throughout the Minnetonka district entitled “Raffle Tickets–Sale Thereof Prohibited.” A copy of this memo was subsequently issued to members of the Mini-School staff by Ken Nichols, assistant principal of MHS. In short, Dr. Draayer’s memo prohibits raffles, drawings, or lotteries as a means whereby a Minnetonka class, program, or school may raise funds to support itself or its activities. He attaches to his memo a legal opinion by Frank Kelly, attorney for the Minnetonka School district, which states, among other things, that raffles, drawings, and lotteries are against the constitution of the state of Minnesota.
Dr. Draayer’s memo has summarily eliminated a means of fund-raising which has brought enough + over $4000 into the Mini-School Program over the last two years. This money has enabled Mini-School to purchase an extensive amount of outdoor equipment which has resulted in Mini-School kids being able to involve themselves in outdoor education at an extremely low cost. It has also given the Mini-School Program the mobility and autonomy it needs to function as successfully as it has.
There are other ways to raise money. The reunion, for example, brought in $240.00. A car wash last spring raised $125.00. About $40.00 worth of Ionettes have been sold. There is no way to raise money like a raffle though. We are only limited by the number of tickets we can sell. Over the past two years, Mini-School’s canoe raffles have been the big ones. Besides being a great fundraiser, the kids take a great deal of pride in their effort as the canoe is built by Mini-School students and the tickets are sold by Mini-School students. The program receives no help from anyone else. I have seen student government put on a pancake breakfast where the food was donated by International Multifoods, the juice and cups were donated by McDonald’s, and the placemats were donated by a local realty company.
This is fine, but Mini-School kids have received no such help and are proud of the fact that they’ve made it alone. The fundraisers have become increasingly popular and kids are working harder than ever. Our Christmas fundraiser, for example, which in the past could be counted on for $300 to $400 dollars, this year netted over $800. I am sure our next canoe raffle would have broken records. Gone with the raffles is a valuable source of public relations, as Mini-School students, as they sold tickets, had to explain their program to customers. Sometimes they even carried a handout which did so. This activity gave Mini-School students a strong feeling of involvement, of identity, of being a part of something. Few kids need this feeling more than Mini-School students.
As mentioned before, there are other ways to raise money. None is as effective, monetarily and public relations-wise, as the raffle method. When I first read Dr. Draayer’s memo to Mini-School students it raised many questions. I paraphrase some of them as follows: Why can the city of Excelsior and all its contributing organizations— Chamber of Commerce, Jaycees, Lions Club, etc.—conduct a fundraiser of exactly the same sort as Mini-School has done if it is against the law to do so (it was pointed out by one student that the ticket says “donation” on it, the same as ours have in the past)? Why can parochial school students (St. John’s) sell raffle tickets to raise money if it is against the law? Why can churches raise money by raffles if it is against the law? How can you ask people to donate without at least giving them a ticket? Is Dr. Draayer asking us to beg?
It seems that the law against raffles as a means of soliciting donations is one of those laws that is rarely, if ever enforced and probably is open to many interpretations of which Mr. Kelly and Dr. Draayer have chosen the most conservative one. Some students have wondered what would happen if someone were to make a citizen’s arrest against the city of Excelsior for breaking Article 13, paragraph 5 of the Constitution of the State of Minnesota. It seems that the city would either be stopped or exonerated. If exonerated, it seems as if that would open the way for Mini-School to also have raffles. Dr. Draayer says in a later memo (3/25) that “Unless…new evidence comes to light which shows the current interpretation” of the issue to be wrong, he considers the issue dead. Perhaps an arrest of the city of Excelsior might bring new evidence to light.
It is hoped by the Mini-School staff and students that this problem can be worked out. In this day and age of budget reduction, staff cuts, and program cuts, it seems incongruous to prohibit a means of raising money as effective as this means has been for Mini-School unless a large segment of the community is really getting upset about it and is criticizing the school district. Judging by the thermometer next to Bacon Drug, not too many people in the community are getting too upset by raffles as a way to solicit donations.