The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Yorkton will be this year’s benefactor of the MC Knoll Elementary School’s Basketball Shootathon.

“Absolutely!” responds YESSA president Mark Schendel when asked about the support behind the annual event which sees students work together for a common goal. The second annual event raised $700 which will go towards the SPCA Yorkton.

“We thought we’d explore some local groups,” he said. “There are some personal reasons for choosing the SPCA,” he said, adding that his wife wanted a cat which they named Marley.

“I’m glad we went this route,” he said of the fundraiser’s recipient.

Schendel said that students from four teams at the school, two boys teams and two girls teams took part in the shooting, including Lacey Senchuk and Brodie Ottenbreit who went 3/10 on his free thrown attempts.

Schendel noted that Tyson Black was the top shooter with an 8/10 record.

He said it was good motivation for the students, a lot of whom have pets at home.

“A lot of them are pet owners. They were really interested in raising a lot of money. We approached everyone for help.

Forty-seven students took part in the shootathon challenge. Each took 10 free throws.

In terms of donations, the school encouraged people to make flat donations.

Of the $700 raised for the animal shelter, it will be used for cleaning products, vaccination and food, he said.

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