TFAC Donations Roll in for Cancer Cure
Thanks to a lot of people with “big hearts and big wallets,” St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will receive more than $60,000 raised during the Tractors for a Cure Board’s annual “Cash Bash” event, held at the Peotone Fairgrounds Atrium.
Tractors for a Cure has been around since 2011 when Dean Bettenhausen helped organize the first event in honor of his daughter who was battling cancer. She is now cancer-free, but the events go on.
Tractors for a Cure holds events throughout the year to raise funds for St. Jude’s, “and it all goes to the kids,” said Bettenhausen, who no long is on the board, “but they let me sit in.
“None of this could be done without the board and the many people involved. They are just amazing, setting up different raffles and fundraising events even during Cash Bash.”
Bettenhausen said the group came up with the idea for doing a Cash Bash. The way it works is, there are 330 numbers on a huge board. A couple that pays the entry fee gets a number on the board. And during the evening, there are many ways to win a cash prize of varying amounts, depending on when numbers are picked.
“The first number picked gets $500,” Bettenhausen said. “And we keep two balls with numbers out for a final chance at winning at the end of the night.”
One is raffled off for $10 a chance; the other is put on a live auction that sells for big bucks, over $1,000 as a live auction. Both are put in the last 10 balls pulled for the evening, guaranteed to win at least $100 up to the grand prize of $4,000.
Small wonder Tractors for a Cure has raised more than $660,000 for cancer research since it was founded in 2011.
In addition to Cash Bash, Tractors for a Cure will be hosting a tractor ride later this year where the proceeds will be split between St. Jude’s and Werner Park in Symerton for a new pavilion.
The date for next year’s TFAC Cash Bash will be March 14, 2026. Bettenhausen expects that will be a great event once again.
“People come out, so many people, with big hearts and big wallets, because its’s for the kids. That’s why it’s so successful. We want to make cancer go away.”