Firefighter hopes ‘Queen of Hearts’ fundraiser pays big for St. Antoninus School’s athletic department

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - The athletic department at a Tri-State school is getting thousands thanks to a Cincinnati firefighter and an idea he borrowed for a fundraiser.

A Queen of Hearts fundraiser for the St. Antoninus School’s athletic department has raised over $120,000. When the winner of the drawing is announced, half the funds will go to the winner while the other half go to the athletic department.

St. Antoninus School is a Kindergarten through Eight Grade Catholic school on the West Side.

Michael Allen, who is a parent of a St. Antoninus School student, said he was among others brainstorming ideas to boost funds for the department.

“We were looking at the books and stuff and we were kind of operating pretty close to being negative,” Allen said. “A place up in Parma, Ohio was running this Queen of Hearts game hat ended up hitting for $5.5 million.”

Players bought raffle tickets for $2 for a Saturday drawing at the Wishbone Tavern and Grill on Delhi Road. A drawing is held once a week with the winner picking an envelope from the board.

For weeks raffle tickets were sold until a player drew the winning card - a Queen of Hearts.

“As the Saturdays went on everyone got more and more excited,” said Nicole Bill, a co-owner of the Wishbone Tavern and Grill. “After the Queen of Hearts was drawn it was kind of sad.”

Allen said they have started a new Queen of Hearts game with the first drawing scheduled on New Year’s Day.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2023 WXIX. All rights reserved.