Logan Wilson partners with UW students for reverse raffle

Apr. 17—LARAMIE — Logan Wilson is never shy about giving back.

The Casper product and former University of Wyoming linebacker prides himself on giving back to communities in his home state, and that passion has continued to expand this spring.

Wilson — who signed a four-year contract extension with the Cincinnati Bengals last year — will host a pair of events in Casper this summer, including a youth football camp and a dinner at Events at The M, both June 22. Proceeds from the events will go to Wilson's three nonprofit causes in his hometown, including the Brooks Joshua Anderson Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming and Natrona County High athletics.

The Brooks Joshua Anderson Foundation was started in 2016 to fund research for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, according to its website.

Tickets for both events weren't on the market long. The allotted tickets for the youth camp were sold out in about 15 hours, according to event organizer Jim Stoll.

The influx of interest led Wilson to come up with another creative idea to continue generating money for nonprofits in the state of Wyoming.

"When the camp sold out and the dinner sold out so quickly, some of our sponsors said, "Well, you know, there's probably people out there that would want the opportunity to support Logan and his three nonprofit causes," Stoll told WyoSports on Tuesday. "So, that's when the idea of a reverse raffle came about."

The reverse raffle costs $100 per ticket, with 75% of the money going directly to local nonprofits. The other 25% of the pool will be distributed to the winner of the reverse raffle, which is the owner of the last ticket drawn.

Owners of the last five tickets drawn will be invited to Wilson's dinner event in Casper with a guest in June.

"He has a tremendous fondness for all things Wyoming, especially at UW," Stoll said. "... He's just Wyoming through and through, so when this opportunity to try and give back in some way presented itself, he and I just jumped on it."

UW partnership

Will Goudey and Brecken Miller are both professional sales majors at UW, with Miller also majoring in marketing.

The seniors were assigned a project in their sales seminar class taught by Molly Burchett. At the start of the semester, Miller had the idea of reaching out to Wilson to collaborate on the assignment to generate money for the school's nonprofit, SparkTank.

Miller and Goudey quickly partnered together for the project, eventually meeting with UW athletics director Tom Burman to try and get in contact with Wilson's camp. The UW students got in touch with Stoll last week, and an arrangement was quickly made for Wilson's ongoing reverse raffle fundraiser.

"Any proceeds from the Laramie and Cheyenne area from now until next Monday is going to go right back into SparkTank," Miller said. "So, $75 of that $100 will go right into SparkTank as a direct donation from Logan Wilson."

SparkTank is an annual fundraiser by UW's College of Business and Ethics Club to raise money for four local nonprofits. The nonprofits include Laramie Interfaith, SAFE Project, Tele-Hope and Stork Support. The fundraiser started in 2018 and has raised more than $170,000 this academic year, Goudey said.

Laramie Interfaith provides food, housing and other essential services in the area. SAFE Project is an advocacy program for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Tele-Hope is a mentoring program that connects UW student-athletes to youth in the community, and Stork Support offers mothers with newborns clothes and other essentials.

"I'm very excited that Logan has agreed to collaborate with us, because I know that our SparkTank initiative makes a true impact on the Laramie and Cheyenne communities," Goudey said. "I know for a fact, as well, that what he's doing up in Casper is truly benefiting those people there and they're making a difference there, too.

"Being an out-of-state student and seeing the kind of impact and just the overall pride that Wyomingites have of being from this state and carrying that through into the NFL is very inspiring. ... He's 'The Governor,' right? It's really cool that we're working with him.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity and I'm glad that we're on the same page in terms of how we can make an impact and really make a difference."

Any reverse raffle tickets bought in the Cheyenne and Laramie areas through Monday's 11:59 p.m. deadline will go to SparkTank's initiative. Tickets bought during that span outside of Cheyenne and Laramie or after Monday night's deadline will benefit Wilson's three nonprofit causes in Casper.

Wilson could have easily just mailed UW a check to give to SparkTank, but his idea to partner with the pair of UW students shows his willingness to be creative when it comes to generating money for those in need in his home state.

"He gets requests every single day for donations," Stoll said. "A lot of times, he'll just do them. But when Will and Brecken reached out to us — because he's now a dad and, as the linebacker, sort of the quarterback of the Bengals' defense — he's always directing people.

"He didn't want to just give them a check. We've got monies from the dinner where he could have just written a check, but Logan wanted to see how they could develop this into something, because they're both marketing students. So, he took this as a teachable moment."

The opportunity to work directly with Wilson was special in itself, but for Goudey and Miller, having the chance to raise money for a good cause alongside the star linebacker is the most rewarding aspect of the whole experience.

"I really resonate with it, because I grew up here in (Cheyenne)," Miller said. "Funny thing, I'm actually a Bengals fan, so I kind of have an extra love for Logan Wilson that other people might not have.

"I just thought it'd be a really good idea to connect this great program of SparkTank with Logan Wilson, because I do know he's a very down-to-earth guy and he supports this community a lot."

The deadline for the reverse raffle is May 31, with the date of the raffle still to be determined. Tickets can be bought at loganwilsonevents.com.

"I'm happy to partner with UW marketing students and the SparkTank initiative," Wilson said in a text message to WyoSports. "Their work in raising monies for those less fortunate has been inspiring for me to see. That's why, between now and next Monday, all proceeds from my reverse raffle ticket sales purchased in Laramie and Cheyenne will go directly to the UW SparkTank program to help nonprofit groups in those cities.

"... Together, we can make a difference in Wyoming!"

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Alex Taylor is the assistant editor for WyoSports and covers University of Wyoming athletics. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @alex_m_taylor22.