Blessed Sacrament School in Springfield held an unusual raffle this summer which required Father Jeff Grant to take his first-ever helicopter ride. “The things you do as a pastor,” Father Grant joked at the conclusion of a June Sunday Mass as he made an announcement that more raffle chances were still available.

Entitled “Golf Balls from Heaven,” the raffle offered 500 numbered golf balls that were sold for $50 each and then dropped by Father Grant from a helicopter onto the practice green on the driving range at Illini Country Club. On the warm, breezy evening of July 11 several hundred parishioners of all ages watched, took photos, waved and cheered as their pastor took to the sky. Jim Gibbs, a Blessed Sacrament parent, rode with Father Grant in the helicopter because he sold the most golf balls.

“We actually had kind of a younger crowd there because we had a Blessed Sacrament family swim at the club that was held just prior to the helicopter event,” said Kim Hoffmann, development director at Blessed Sacrament. “Everyone had fun and the weather couldn’t have been nicer.”

Father Grant might have joked about taking his first ride in a chopper, but he was more than willing to help out. “He didn’t even hesitate when I asked him about taking part in all of this. Actually he was pretty excited about it,” said Hoffmann, who got the idea from a family member who helped with a similar raffle to benefit St. Thomas Aquinas School in East Lansing, Mich.

A long-existing Springfield-based company sponsored the helicopter fee. “We had to rent the helicopter from a company called SummerSkyz, but Henson Robinson Company paid the cost for that,” Hoffmann said. “After the golf balls were dropped, the pilot took Father Jeff and Jim for a longer ride so that they could see Blessed Sacrament from the air — and also the Capitol.”

The raffle offered two chances to win: closest to the hole won the grand prize of $5,000, which went to Jim Fullerton; and farthest from the hole won $500, which went to parishioner Hal Smith. A part of the proceeds was also distributed to the Blessed Sacrament School golf team, whose members picked up the golf balls from the course.

“After all the expenses we earned about $18,000, which went to the school for operating expenses,” said Hoffmann. “So it was a successful raffle.”