Although it has been around for over 20 years, the Yoder Brothers Foundation is still creating new events to bring to Geauga County. The Foundation will host its fifth annual reverse raffle fundraiser at the E.O.U.V. event venue in Newbury on July 12 beginning at 6 p.m.
“The Foundation has been in place for 27 years and we previously did a golf outing and a celebrity dinner,” Board Member Amy Hissa told The Weekly Villager on June 20. “For the reverse raffle, we are trying to establish it as an annual event 20 years in.”
Sponsored by the Randles family, the Foundation will auction off $5,000 in a reverse raffle, in which the winning ticket is the last one selected. In addition to a $5,000 prize, the night will also include a DJ, open bar, a silent auction and a full dinner with up to 250 guests expected to be in attendance.
According to Hissa, all money raised from the reverse raffle will be go into the Foundation’s general fund. She added that the Foundation hopes that with enough time, the reverse raffle will become a big enough event in Geauga County so that all the proceeds raised can be donated to a charity.
“We are completely volunteer based with no expenses,” she noted. “We are working to get that to a place where the amount is self-sustaining, and it can continue in propriety forever and they can continue to get these scholarships forever because it is self-funded. The fundraiser then would transition into being something where we can pick specific groups or causes each year to help the community.”
The Foundation was originally created in 1997 after the after the death of Cardinal graduate Josh Yoder, who died in a car accident. For four years, it was called the Josh Yoder Foundation in Josh’s memory, but when his younger brother Tyler died in a motorcycle accident four years later, the Foundation began honoring each brother’s memory.
In commemoration of the Yoder Brothers, the Foundation created two different scholarships, one in Josh’s name and one in Tyler’s name and began awarding them to Cardinal students to pay for their college tuition.
Hissa, who attended school with Josh, was one of the very first recipients of the Josh Yoder Scholarship and used the money to attend Liberty University in West Virginia.
For a long time, the Foundation hosted an annual golf outing every year but Hissa said the Foundation sought to host another event to rebrand and continue to honor Josh and Tyler’s memory with a new generation in Geauga County.
The Foundation also awards a pair of scholarships to neighboring Geauga County schools such as Berkshire and Chardon. At Cardinal, the Foundation gives three Josh Yoder Scholarships worth $18,000, $12,000 and $10,000 each to student-athletes, because Josh was a varsity baseball player when he attended school. The Tyler Yoder Scholarship pays for two years of trade school tuition and is worth $9,000.
“They have to write an essay, they have to have letters of recommendation from a coach or a teacher and have to have attended obviously one of the local schools,” noted Hissa.
“To date we have offered over $1.6 million in scholarships and annually we are paying out around $85-90,000 every year in scholarship payments,” Hissa said.
Hissa said that the Foundation has celebrated Josh and Tyler’s love of life by giving young people an opportunity to pursue their dreams of a college education.
“There is a significant burden of families and everyday living to send your kids to a college so when we are talking about an award that is $10,000 or $9,000 over four years or $16,000, it is a significant chunk of money toward tuition,” Hissa said.
Although the reverse raffle is independent of the scholarships given by the Foundation, it is another way for the Foundation to grow as it honors Josh and Tyler’s memory.
“Everyone who comes loves that is such a great time,” Hissa said. “It is a great way to support all of the students we know and love in this community. We are looking to continue to grow and grow the reach and have an ultimate goal of being self-endowed and then being able to donate to even broader colleges.”
