Pacelli’s 8th annual Cardinal Crusade goes online for 2021
By Brandi Makuski
This year’s Cardinal Crusade will look a lot different from previous years’ events.
Thanks to COVID-19, the usual in-person dinner, activities, and live auction will be replaced with a virtual auction event.
Typically, Pacelli Catholic Schools hosts the event for over 200 guests in the Grand Hall at SentryWorld.
This year, a virtual auction, featuring more than 100 items valued at over $25,000, will be held Feb. 4-6. Bidding is open to the public and begins at noon on Thursday, Feb. 4.
Featured packages include vacations to Door County, Wautoma, Nashville, and Kissimmee, Fla.; a staycation with activities in Plover; five-hour guided fishing; pheasant hunting; six-course beer pairing dinner; and golf throughout Central Wisconsin. Additional items such as Samsonite luggage, a bar cabinet, TV stand, smart home technology, local restaurant and shop certificates, tickets to museums and family-friendly activities across Wisconsin, area gym memberships, ¼ black Angus beef, a generator, gift baskets, and more are also available for bidding on the silent auction, found at crusade2021.ggo.bid.
Daily prize drawings will be held Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for those participating in the online auction. Dubbed the “Bidder Bonus Prize Drawings,” online bidders will receive one entry per day for each bid placed to win prizes like $250 cash, an RTIC cooler and drinkware bundle, and a $150 Ray-Ban gift card.
Despite the event shifting online, some of the games that were popular at past events will be played virtually. The “Catch the Cardinal Spirit Cork Game” involves buying a virtual cork online for $20 to win a mystery bottle of wine, spirits, or craft beverages or buy one of the 40 mystery boxes online for $40 for a chance at winning the grand prize—a one night stay at the American Club and $500 Destination Kohler gift card.
This year’s Cardinal Crusade also features some of its most popular raffles—Travel Raffle (win a vacation for 4 or 2), Pick Your Scrip Raffle (win up to $1,500 in gift cards of your choice), and Tuition Credit Raffle (win $1,000 or $500 Pacelli Catholic Schools tuition credit).
Tickets are on sale now through 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 at the Pacelli Catholic Schools Central Office, 1301 Maria Dr., and the drawings will be held during the event’s live stream broadcast on Saturday, February 6.
The live stream kicks off at 7 p.m. and will feature co-hosts Tom Cashin, Pacelli Class of 1971 and Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, and Ann Molski, longtime Pacelli teacher and softball coach and fellow Athletic Hall of Fame member.
Also featured in the broadcast will be a short video and special fund drive supporting the needs of Pacelli Catholic Schools teachers by providing them additional funds to enhance their classrooms, with a goal of raising $15,000. Contributions to the “Classroom Dreams” fund-a-need effort can be made online at crusade2021.ggo.bid.
The Cardinal Crusade helps support nearly 800 students served through PCS’s childcare, preschool, and K-12 education programs.
For more event information, visit pacellicatholicschools.com/cardinalcrusade.