21 hours ago
Cookie Butcher takes a bite out of cancer with Ride for Roswell raffle
To see the satisfaction Cookie Butcher feels when handing over the proceeds of her raffle to Ride for Roswell, you would think she had the winning ticket. On Friday, Butcher presented $26,416 to Andrea Gregory, director of special events for the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, just ahead of its 30th anniversary event on June 28.
As an account manager at Summit MSP in the Town of Lockport, a marketing business, Butcher joked that they made the giant presentation check in-house.
This was the seventh year that Butcher organized a raffle featuring donated items from local businesses. She will also ride the 20-mile river route in this year's bicycle event.
Butcher waved off any notion that organizing the raffle was a time-consuming process, giving the credit to her network of businesses and an enthusiastic community that comes through time and again.
'They're all community-oriented people,' Butcher said. 'They're eager to serve.'
Gregory said it was Butcher who was community-oriented.
'Cookie's pretty special,' she said. 'We're pretty fortunate that we have riders that go above and beyond, and rally the community to raise really significant funds.'
Butcher passes off her accomplishment as an act of common sense.
'For me, it's all about the cause. If I can do something to help, why not do it?' she said. 'We've all been touched by it. I'm just grateful that Roswell is in our backyard.'
In her presentation, Butcher thanked the nearly 1,300 ticket buyers in and out of the state, the cycling team from Mantelli Trailer Sales, and the South Lockport Fire Company for putting a raffle message on its electronic marquee.
Most years, Butcher rides with Kim Watson-Mantelli and their teammates. Their team fundraising goal was $25,000, but 'I think with what I raised this year, I put them over the $30,000 mark,' she said.
Gregory said the Ride for Roswell was expecting 7,500 riders this year, with a fundraising goal of $6 million. Monies raised go toward the most pressing cancer needs, Gregory said, which can be clinical trials, seed funding for research, and patient quality of life needs that are not covered by insurance.
It took a village to come up with the substantial prizes that ticket buyers could win. Butcher lined up 15 packages, featuring everything from a four-person fishing charter to hundreds of dollars in gift certificates, to a wheelbarrow containing more than 20 bottles of wine and spirits.
People can still donate, and Butcher still has change donation buckets available in the community.
