2025 Jeep Gladiator the grand prize in Jeeps on the Run raffle
Ray Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Fox Lake is donating a 2025 Jeep Gladiator Sport as the grand prize in this year’s Jeeps on the Run Toys for Tots Run fundraising event.
To be awarded to the ticket holder at the Dec. 7 event, the vehicle is valued at $46,375, said Mike Missak, president and founder of Jeeps on the Run, or JOTR.
The nonprofit has donated more than $2 million to Toys for Tots and other local charitable organizations — including animal shelters and food pantries — since its 2012 inception, he added.
The $20 Jeep raffle tickets, of which only 3,000 will be sold, will be available at jeepsontherun.com. Visit the Jeeps on the Run Facebook page for updates.
Anyone curious can view the Army green, Nighthawk edition Jeep located at Ray Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, 23 Route 12, Fox Lake. It is the sixth new Jeep dealership owner Ray Scarpelli Jr. has donated to Jeeps on the Run.
“Seeing the Toys for Tots Run take off in terms of awareness, participation and the sheer number of toys and dollars it generates for such a great cause has been really rewarding,” Scarpelli said. “Jeeps on the Run is a great group, and I’m happy to do what I can to help them continue to shine in their charitable endeavors.”
The donation enables the nonprofit to put 100% of the ticket sales toward the holiday season U.S. Marines Toys for Tots campaigns of Lake and McHenry counties.
“Ray Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram has donated close to $300,000 to Jeeps on the Run in the form of Jeeps and other generous support,” Missak said. “They are committed to our group 365 days a year — and to the community in general.”
Missak said the fundraiser’s success relies not only on the partnership with Scarpelli’s business, but also with all of its sponsors, and participants in the run and after party.
In recent years, they have supplied so many toys and donations that it takes more than two semitractor-trailers to contain them, he said.
“Thousands of families from McHenry and Lake counties benefit,” he said. “We could not do this without the folks who show up each year with their creatively decorated Jeeps — some with a few toys, some with a trailer load of them, and all very deeply appreciated.”
Missak said Jeep ownership is not required for after-party participation. This year’s run again will start at Ray CDJR and end up at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort, where Santa, live music, food, family activities and other attractions await including the Jeep drawing.
“It’s a special color called 41, which refers to 1941, the year Jeeps started being mass produced for military use,” Missak said. “It comes with upgraded tires and wheels, rock rails and other enhanced off-roading capabilities.”
Interested participants in the 2025 Toys for Tots Run ($30 per Jeep) and/or after-party ($5 per individual) should visit jeepsontherun.com and the group’s Facebook page for notification on when registration opens. Tickets will be available on the website, typically in late August or early September.