Catholic students raise more than $239,000 through Catholic United Financial Raffle program

Students and staff of five Catholic schools in the Diocese of Duluth aimed high and raised more than $239,000 through the 2025 Catholic United Financial Raffle. The raffle program is just one way Catholic United Financial fulfills its vision to help people be financially secure, faith-filled and engaged in their communities.

Between January 20 and March 2, 2025, students sold $10 tickets, with their respective schools keeping 100 percent of the ticket sales. Participating schools in 2025 included 72 located across Minnesota and South Dakota. They achieved a combined total of more than $1.3 million in ticket sales, the sixth highest total in the program’s 16-year history. Since its inception, the Catholic United Financial Raffle has contributed more than $16 million to Catholic schools in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. 

More than 20 percent of all schools that participated in 2025 had their best year ever in the program. St. Joseph's Catholic School of Grand Rapids was one of those schools, raising more than $19,000.

“We’re honored to offer this program free to schools and we’re ecstatic to see students and staff leverage the opportunity to make a financial impact for their schools. Congratulations to everyone involved in the Diocese of Duluth,” said Mike Ahles, Senior Vice President of Distribution for Trusted Fraternal Life. Catholic United Financial is a member of the Trusted Fraternal Life family of brands.

“We all know that living costs are high, so are educations costs. We believe that Catholic education is invaluable to our faith communities and society at large,” said Ahles.

During the grand prize drawing ceremony held on March 27, Alyssa Niedenfuer of Ramsey, Minn., was announced as the grand prize winner of a new 2025 Chevy Trax SUV or $20,000 in cash. Catholic United Financial announced 40 additional winners of prizes, including vacation getaways, gift cards, Minnesota Twins tickets, Apple watches, and more. The live-streamed ceremony ended with 25 top-selling students receiving $200 tuition scholarships.

Schools within the Diocese that participated are:

St. Francis of the Lakes of Brainerd
Queen of Peace Catholic School of Cloquet
Stella Maris Academy of Duluth
St. Joseph's Catholic School of Grand Rapids
Marquette Catholic School of Virgina

Video, photos and a list of prizewinners and results are available at: www.catholicunitedfinancial.org/raffle.