Michael Ahles, president and CEO of St. Paul-based Catholic United Financial, presented Joleen Olson with a ceremonial “big check” March 19 for the $20,000 grand prize she won in CUF’s annual Catholic schools raffle.

Olson’s name was drawn from nearly 300,000 tickets sold to benefit Catholic schools. Her son, Zane, who sold her the winning ticket, is a seventh-grader at St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo, which was presented with a check for $14,135 — the amount its students raised for the school by selling raffle tickets.

About 13,000 Catholic school students across Minnesota, North and South Dakota sold $5 raffle tickets from the middle of January to Feb. 28, raising nearly $1.5 million for 82 participating Catholic schools. CUF, a fraternal benefit company that provides life insurance and retirement savings options to its members, donates everything needed to conduct the raffle so that schools can keep 100% of what their students collect in ticket sales and donations.

In its 12 years, the raffle has raised more than $11 million for Catholic schools. Olson plans to use the money she won to buy a new air conditioning unit at her home, pay off some debt and give anything left to the Church. The school said it will use its prize money to support teachers with instructional materials and meet technology needs.