Campus Colors hits another slamdunk for Rory

For five years, Campus Colors has raised a championship banner for The Rory David Deutsch Foundation by raising support, awareness, and excitement through its annual “March Madness” raffle. It is simple; win the raffle and you win an authentic University of North Carolina basketball jersey autographed by, yes, the great Michael Jordan.

Last year’s contest followed the format of previous years. Between March 1st and 15th, just before the onset of the NCAA basketball tournament, anyone who made a purchase of fifty dollars or more at any of the four Campus Color stores was automatically entered into the contest. A purchase of one-hundred dollars was worth two raffle entries, and so on. Raffle tickets could also be purchased directly by making a fifty dollar contribution to The Foundation at one of the stores.

“In Highland Park, people are well aware of The Foundation, and they are well aware of this contest,” said Barbara Rubenstein, who owns and runs the stores with her husband Neil. “The kids especially know. We put the jersey on display in advance of the contest and they would come in to take a good look at it. They also make sure that their parents know how to become eligible for the prize.”

Once the raffle was over, all of the tickets were collected and placed into a large bag at the Highland Park store. “Ross and his sons, Rickey and Robbie, came to the store last year to pick the winning ticket,” stated Barbara. Laura Piccatto of Willowbrook was the lucky winner of the Jordan jersey. The Foundation was the recipient of the $4,000 raffle tickets receipts.

The contest is always a big hit,” Barbara said, “and we look to help The Foundation in any way we can.” This endeavor includes the store’s continued effort to sell Rory wristbands that read “Brighter Tomorrows.”

Keeping The Foundation in mind, Barbara has also taken advantage of the popularity of a promotional poster featuring country music star Kenny Chesney. “‘Wear Your College Colors to Work Day’ was September 1st,” she explained. “Yes, that’s an actual day, so we received some posters promoting it which featured Chesney striking a pose. These are larger than life posters and when we realized there was a demand for them we decided, instead of giving them away, we would take a donation of fifty or one-hundred dollars and pass that amount on to The Foundation. It’s just another way to raise money and awareness for a great organization.”

With stores in Highland Park, Hinsdale, Naperville, and Chicago’s Water Tower Place, Campus Colors is the nation’s largest retailer of collegiate licensed clothing, representing over 250 colleges from coast to coast. For more information, call 847-433-2300.