Boosters raise more than $10,000 for Glenbard West with cow chip bingo

To say Hilda the cow's dirty business had never seen as much scrutiny as Sunday might be an understatement.

Of course, the location of her dirty work had never netted any Glen Ellyn resident $2,000 before.

As part of a fundraiser to raise money to help pay for an artificial turf project at Glenbard West High School's Memorial Field, a local booster club hosted Cow Chip Bingo at the field.

The result? More than $10,000 to add to the already-robust Glenbard West High School Memorial Field Capital Campaign Fund, which has raised more than $330,000 since it was formed a couple of years ago.

"It's a culmination," said Principal Jane Thorsen of the barbecue-style party that accompanied the event. "It's a celebration of all they have done over the last couple of years."

The field was marked off into 546 squares and boosters and parents sold tickets for the spots for $20 each. Once released into the field, the crowd waited patiently and watched as Hilda, ahem, contributed to the cause. After two contributions and about 40 minutes, Glen Ellyn resident Jen Corona hit the cow dung jackpot.

For fund Chairman Mark Flynn, it was a way to have fun with the end of a year as chairman as the school prepares to begin the estimated $1.6 million project in July.

While some community members have questioned the project's timing, Flynn's group said the turf is sorely needed because of Memorial and nearby Duchon fields' poor draining and field conditions during inclement weather.

In January, Glenbard High School District 87 officials said they expected to pay about $913,000 into the project. The money will come from both vendor contracts and maintenance and other savings related to the new turf, they say. However, they would only commit that amount if the boosters came up with a good portion of the money.

After a committee member brought up the idea for cow chip bingo, it started to take shape and the event was born.

"We thought about this as much as a celebration as a thank you to the community," he said.

And Flynn said they have plenty to be thankful for. He said he was surprised at the community support, not only in numbers but in background, as well.

"We thought it would be from major donors," Flynn said. "It ended up being a wide swath of the community." Flynn noted that teachers, security guards and parents all contributed to the fund.

"That's the greatness of the whole thing," he said. "The bottom line is people saw a compelling reason to give. They had been playing on the field for so long or had children play on the field. People saw the problem and they wanted to stop it."