Author: Emily Denholm, ds-connex team member

Logan’s Heroes is a walk team for the Reach for the Stars Buddy Walk®, created to celebrate 8-year-old Logan, who has Down syndrome. Logan likes playing with his little sister and his dog, Timber. He is also a fan of music, sports, and loves playing outside. For the second consecutive year Logan’s walk team was a top fundraising team, raising a total of $7,900 in 2015 to support Reach for the Stars!

How did Logan’s Heroes raise so much? 89% of the funds raised by the team came from their 2nd Annual Bingo Fundraiser! We interviewed team captain, Karen Hess, on how her team made this event so successful.

Karen shared with us the event consists of 20 Bingo games, with 3 specialty games where designer items like sunglasses and umbrellas are the prizes. In addition to the games, there is also a 50/50 raffle, a box auction, and a raffle for large handbags from select fashion designers. “The prizes and the cost of the hall rental are taken care of with money raised in the way of sponsorship from individuals and local businesses,” shares Karen. “We had food and beverages we sold that were also donated by local businesses, and bake sale items made by friends and family.”

Logan’s Heroes sold over 150 tickets (at $25 each) to the 2015 event. “We also had door prizes donated by individuals and local businesses for some of the bingo players.” In addition, the team secured approximately $2,500 in sponsorships from local businesses to support the fundraiser and minimize some of the out of pocket costs for the event. Karen shares, “The most challenging part is the process of getting the actual bingo license. It is quite a task for the first year; but if you keep copies of everything, it is quite a bit easier the next year.”

Drum roll…in 2015, the Logan’s Heroes Bingo Fundraiser netted almost $7,000 for the walk team. Wow! Karen is excited for this event to continue to grow. “I am looking into a bigger place for next year; and hopefully, I will be able to increase the total donation for the 2016 Buddy Walk®.”

This post is the first of several in our ongoing Walk Team Spotlight blog series. The series profiles Down syndrome walk teams, sharing their unique backstories, as well as fundraising, recruitment and networking tips! Check back for future posts in this series coming soon. Submit your story ideas to: stories@ds-connex.org.