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{ EVENTS } GREAT RACE for a GREAT CAUSE EITC benefit event captures the essence of creative fundraising Designed to give a boost to down- town businesses and to raise funds for scholarships at Eastern Idaho Technical College, The Great Race for Education was born as a hybrid of the popular television shows The Amazing Race and Survivor. According to Melissa Bean, Executive Director for the EITC Foundation, that question loomed for quite some time as the event slowly came to fruition last summer. After only three days of advertising, however, all 25 team slots were full. The teams were a cross section of the com- munity, Bean said. “We had several cor- porate teams and a handful of community members who formed teams. Several of the teams were very competitive and were unbelievably fun to get to know through the summer of clues, challenges and the finale of the race itself.” Each team is challenged to recruit 10 team owners at a minimum. The team owners are to remain at the starting/finish line (Snake River Landing) to provide clues and have mini-challenges throughout the day that enable them to support their team. Teams also buy clues, and all dona- tions go to the scholarship program. A good example from 2009 was “Team INL,” organized by Juan Alvarez. It raised $2,600 to support the team and the scho- larship program. They asked everyone in their management team to help. “Not 32 | EAST IDAHO SUMMER FUN GUIDE 2010 only that—they lent 12 volunteers to the cause!” Bean said. Other examples: Citizens Community Bank’s team, led by Theron McGriff, had a root beer float sale to raise funds. Cargill, lead by Jerry Cass, raised $2,400 through a matching grant program through their corporate headqu- arters. “The Great Race was a spectacularly ori- ginal and clever event,” said Liza Leonard of the Snake River Landing Team. “It was so refreshing to participate in an activity so challenging and rewarding at the same time.” The top three teams were racing for cash prizes. Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center ran in first place with leader Cindy Smith-Putnam leading the way. She said, “EIRMC has had a long relationship with EITC, we believe in EITC and its mission. We are here to support what they do, that is why we are donating this $1,500 back to scholarships.” The second place win- ners “The 3 Stooges” were lead by Maria Mitchell and were a community team. In third place was the Snake River Landing Team who also donated their winnings back to the Foundation. In all, the Great Race for Education raised over $20,000 for scholarships. Not bad, considering the Foundation had a goal of raising $15,000. “We knew [the first year] it would be a little low because we had some start-up costs with a new event,” Bean said. “We were happy to exceed our goal. We anticipate after adjusting the kinks in the event that we can make this a much bigger event and raise even more money for scholarships. Our hope is to build this event so that many more stu- dents achieve their educational goals.” For more information, visit the EITC Foundation website at www.eitcfounda- tion.org.