The student band community hosted their annual winter fundraiser in a new, creative way: “The ULTIMATE Swiftie Raffle.” The winner was to receive a Taylor Swift-signed acoustic guitar.
The hope was that this valuable prize would encourage all students, not just Swifties, to purchase the raffle tickets that support the student band program.
“In my opinion, I think this is the biggest fundraiser Deep Run has done, and the fundraiser will go towards supporting the band,” sophomore Micah Zannino said.
The Deep Run Band Boosters, a parent-run organization, organized this fundraiser by encouraging band members to sell at least four raffle tickets in order to reach their fundraising goal of $2,500.
Each raffle ticket sold for $10 if purchased by cash or check or $11 if purchased online. Customers had to be 18 or older to purchase a ticket and claim the prize. The winner of the raffle was to be picked at their winter concert on Dec. 14.
The prize consisted of an acoustic guitar that measures approximately 38” in length, and featured a custom pickguard signed by Taylor Swift, authenticated by James Spence Authentication (JSA). Overall, the approximate value of the guitar is $600.
“At first, I thought the guitar was fake, but when I saw that it was authenticated by a professional, I thought this would be a great way to get people involved with the band,” Zannino said.
The collected funds will support student-volunteer musical and artistic groups, such as Marching Band, Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Orchestra, Pep Band, and Winterguard.
This fundraiser was organized as a way to get the student community involved in supporting the fine arts, allowing them to purchase more instruments, music, equipment, and overall better their program.
During their winter concert, the winner was revealed to be the family of freshman Michael Lin who plays alto saxophone for the band program.
