Team 36, a Mississippi-based nonprofit dedicated to improving ACT scores across the state, is holding a fundraising raffle this month.

The raffle prize, which is dubbed “A Night on the Square,” is valued at over $300 and contains items from local businesses. Some of the items are a $50 gift certificate with two coffee mugs from Square Books, a 750-milliliter bottle of Wonderbird gin, a gift certificate for dinner and drinks for two at Saint Leo restaurant and artisanal items from Chicory Market. The raffle also includes a one-night stay at an Oxford hotel.

Tickets for the raffle can be purchased at Team36.org.

“As a new and energetic organization, we worked to help develop a fundraiser that could raise awareness of our mission to provide free ACT prep materials to underserved Mississippi high schools,” Edy Dingus, a Team 36 board member, said. “The money raised through this signature raffle will pay for Team 36’s annual minimum operating costs, so that we may continue or good work.”

The raffle began on Oct. 1, and the drawing will be held on Nov. 4. Raffle ticket eligibility is restricted to Mississippi residents.

Team 36 was founded in 2016 as a nonprofit organization with assistance from the CREATE Foundation in Tupelo. Former University of Mississippi professor, Louise Vigeant, is the founder of Team 36. Vigeant said in a recent news release that she would like her organization to become a model for other test-prep organizations.

“I sometimes hear really remarkable stories from high school students,” Vigeant said. “It gives me so much energy to hear from someone about how they didn’t think they were going to go to college and how their life turns upside down and they can get a partial scholarship to a (junior college), for example.”

Last year, the average composite ACT score in Mississippi was 18.6, trailing nearly two points behind the national average of 20.8. Team 36 works to close the gap by helping students succeed at the ACT and beyond.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit team36.org/fundraiser/.