Palatine school holds free-throw scholarship fundraiser

Do you got game? Can you sink free throws with ease? If so, Immanuel Lutheran School in Palatine needs your help to raise money for student tuition scholarships. At the Shoot for Scholarships event, each free throw you make earns scholarship money for the Immanuel Lutheran School Educational Foundation through a donation from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

Each year, ILSEF provides student scholarships for families needing tuition assistance for children attending Immanuel Lutheran School. Shoot for Scholarships takes place from 4:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26, at Immanuel Lutheran School in downtown Palatine.

“Thrivent Financial and its members have supported Immanuel Lutheran Church and School’s ministry for many years,” said Rev. Warren Schilf, associate pastor at Immanuel. “When Thrivent approached us recently to find out how they could continue their support, we decided to come up with an event that blends our commitment to providing academic excellence in a Christ-centered setting with our love of basketball.”

“Last summer, my wife and I enrolled our three children in Immanuel’s basketball camps,” said John Messerschmidt, financial associate for Thrivent Financial. “We were so impressed by the quality of the instruction and the overall philosophy of developing young men and women, we wanted to find a way to support the school.”

After enrolling his children in the camp again this year, Messerschmidt asked the Immanuel boys’ head basketball coach, John Ulrich, how Thrivent could help the school. Ulrich immediately replied, “By helping us provide scholarships for young children to attend Immanuel.”

Through the Messerschmidts’ work as financial representatives, they enlisted the support of Thrivent Financial and the idea for Shoot for Scholarships took off.