If you haven’t gotten one already, you still have a chance to purchase this year’s ‘Gold Card’ to benefit the Escalon High School football program.
“Over 15 years we’ve been doing these,” varsity head coach Mark Loureiro said of selling the cards, which feature a variety of discounts for local businesses and services.
“If you use the card two or three times, it pays for itself,” the coach said.
Players from all three levels of Cougar football – freshman, JV and varsity – will blitz the community Thursday night, Aug. 27 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., going door-to-door to sell the cards.
“The price has gone up this year, up to $15 but we also get a larger percentage return,” Loureiro explained. “This is an important fundraiser for us.”
The cards arrived earlier this month and players did have them available, out doing some pre-sales this past week, but the focused communitywide blitz will be Thursday night.
“Many, many of our local businesses in town are on it and the support from the community is great,” Loureiro said. “I want to thank the community ahead of time for that support.”
As funding for sports has become less prominent in school budgets, Loureiro said the teams have had to get more involved in their own fundraising and have also enjoyed the support of the Escalon Sports Boosters organization.
“All of our sports rely on the Boosters and fundraising,” Loureiro said, noting that the Boosters organization has helped tremendously, providing funding for everything from equipment to transportation for all sports teams at EHS.
The football team uses the Gold Card sales as its main team fundraiser and Loureiro said it has also been a good one, with the card providing plenty of value for the purchaser and the seller, the team getting a good return on the money.
“I always keep an extra couple hundred,” Loureiro added. “If you don’t get contacted by a player, get in touch with me at the school.”
The Gold Card is available for $15; call Loureiro at Escalon High School, 838-7073 for more information or to purchase one.
