The familiar scenes of youth football fundraisers around town -- car washes, candy bars, coupon books -- are a little bit different for the program in Bullitt County, Kentucky. There, the 12 football teams and approximately 1,000 participating families do -- in a single day -- the vast majority of their fundraising by serving food and drinks at the Kentucky Derby.
The program relies on the nearly $40,000 raised at the event to buy and condition safety equipment as well as fund participation for families who can't afford the annual dues. If fans are not in attendance when the postponed Derby takes place on Sept. 5, alternate fundraising would not match the league's lost revenue from that day.
"Everyone's very anxious. They want to know, 'Are we going to have a season?'" says Amanda Serafin, president of the Greater Bullitt County Youth Football League. "When you're looking at selling candy bars and things like that, there's nothing that will ever make up for what that Derby brings in." — TONYA MALINOWSKI
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