By ADAM HARJU
SANTA CRUZ -- The principal of the school that sold the grand prize raffle ticket in this year's Drive For Schools fundraiser is ecstatic, she said, because the win may help them raise more funds next year.
And the winner, Deborah Berkson of Santa Cruz, is happy to take the $25,000.
"Maybe we'll sell more tickets next year because one of our students sold the winning one this year," said Pamela Randall, principal of Del Mar Elementary School in Live Oak. The school earned $5,510 from ticket sales.
"Our level of participation has increased every year," she said of the 400-student school with 19 classrooms.
Randall said fundraisers such as Drive For Schools are important in today's funding environment because of state and federal cuts.
"We are using the funds raised during this one for classroom supplies," she said.
The organizer of the fundraiser, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, said $332,000 was raised for area schools during the last four weeks, with all of it going straight into participating schools' coffers.
"The great part about this one is all of the money stays with the schools," Boardwalk spokesman Kris Reyes said.
Some 62 schools participated in the fifth annual event, which has raised over $1 million since its inception in 2005.
Valencia Elementary in Aptos raised the most with $24,000. Main Street School raised $18,000 and Tierra Pacifica charter school netted $16,000.
The Drive For Schools fundraiser concluded Sunday with Berkson choosing to take the $25,000 in cash instead of the 2010 Toyota Prius offered as the prize.
Berkson, a computer software developer in Scotts Valley, said she took the money instead of the hybrid car because she already has a reliable vehicle.
The raffle winner has a son, Malachi Allen, 12, at Shoreline Middle School who also attended Del Mar. She said she took part in the fundraiser for philanthropic reasons.
"When I bought the ticket, it wasn't about winning prizes," she said. "It was about helping the schools because things are so tight for them right now."
Reyes said the Boardwalk hopes to hold the fundraiser again next year.
"This is a special fundraiser for us as schools need as much help as they can get, especially now because so many extracurricular activities are being cut," Reyes said.
Berkson said she will use the money to take friends out, to go on a vacation with her family and to start a college fund for her son.
All of the costs associated with putting on the fundraiser were paid by the Boardwalk, while Toyota of Santa Cruz donated the Prius. A complete list of winners can be found at www.beachboardwalk.com/driveforschools.