The Ronald McDonald House will host a Reverse Raffle Saturday, April 9 at 7 p.m. at the Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall.

Representatives from the Ronald McDonald House joined forces with a Marshall University public relations capstone class to raise funds for the Tri-State area Ronald McDonald House.

Senior public relations major and director of the capstone class Alex Rahal said the Reverse Raffle was started by the 2015 capstone class.

“We decided to continue it because it was such a success last year,” Rahal said.

Rahal said a $50 ticket supplies food from La Famiglia, two  alcoholic drinks and entrance to win a $2500 grand prize.

“Throughout the three hours of the night, the MC will draw out numbers and then once your number is called, you’re out,” Rahal said. “At the end there will be one person left and the last person wins the grand prize.”

Rahal said the evening will also include a silent auction with an assortment of prizes ranging from Cincinnati Reds tickets and a gardening package to a wagon filled with kids’ toys.

Rahal said the Ronald McDonald House requires several hundred thousand dollars to maintain its function.

“Their funding has been cut, so basically all of this money will go right toward the house for anything that they would need for any of the services they offer,” Rahal said.

Rahal said she and the capstone class have worked closely with director of development at Ronald McDonald House Jaye Toler.

“We’re working with (Toler) pretty much exclusively and almost constantly,” Rahal said.

Rahal said Toler came to one of their first class sessions to let them know what she was looking for and to get feedback from the class.

“We treated it like a real, functioning PR agency and that Ronald McDonald House was our client,” Rahal said.

Rahal said the capstone class and Toler’s mutual goal is to raise as much money as possible for the local Ronald McDonald House.

Lydia Waybright can be contacted at [email protected].