ROCHELLE — The Floyd J. Tilton VFW Post #3878 in Rochelle is currently in the process of donating its $67,092 portion of its recent Queen of Hearts drawing jackpot to 14 nonprofit organizations, Post Commander Joe Drought said. 

Funds will be donated to the Eastern Lee-Ogle Honor Guard, Focus House, Folds of Honor Foundation, HOPE of Ogle County, the Hub City Senior Center, the Oscar Mike Foundation, Pegasus Special Riders, Project Healing Waters, the Rochelle Area Community Foundation, the Rochelle Christian Food Pantry, Rockford Sexual Assault Counseling, Tunnels to Towers Foundation, Vets Roll, Inc., and the Village of Progress.

The Queen of Hearts drawing involves 54 cards hidden under a covering to be revealed one card per week until the Queen of Hearts is drawn. There are 52 playing deck cards with the two jokers hidden. Players at the local post can purchase tickets in increments of six for $5 and write a number corresponding to a hidden card on the board and their information on them before placing them in a tumbling drum. One ticket is drawn each Tuesday night and the card with the number on the ticket is revealed. 

On Friday, March 1, the Rochelle VFW Post 3878 presented a $201,276 check to the winner of its most-recent finished Queen of Hearts contest, Steven Bialas. The contest ran the full 54 weeks and reached a $335,460 total final jackpot. The remaining money was split between the post and nonprofits.

When the Queen of Hearts was drawn, the winner received 60 percent of the pot. If Bialas would have been present at the drawing, he would have won 70 percent. That has since changed and the VFW will now award 65 percent of winnings to future winners regardless of if they’re present. 

Drought called the game going 54 weeks and hitting such a high number “insane.”

“It went beyond what we thought it would,” Drought said. “But because of that insanity, we're able to distribute over $67,000, which is 20 percent of the jackpot, to local organizations and some national-level veterans organizations. It just feels great to be able to have this money and distribute it out there and know that we're doing good things with it. That's what we're all about here. We have a bar, and that's what a lot of people think of first about this place, but that's just our money-making effort to keep the doors open. There's so much more that we do and that we want to do."

The other $67,092 went to the VFW post and its board of directors voted to use some of it to cover the expenses of printing tickets for the game (over $10,000), and the remaining funds were directed to be deposited into the bank for future renovation/maintenance projects at the post.

Drought said potential projects include elevator improvements, camera and security upgrades, lower-area bathroom renovations, and flooring. 

“We have a number of projects here that really need to be done,” Drought said. “That portion of money isn't enough, but we're looking to see how we can best spend it and what our highest priorities are. We need to raise more money. The community always helps us with donations. We're trying to raise the rest of it through other efforts. There's never a shortage of projects with a building.”

The decision to remove the higher winning percentage for being present at drawings was made due to concerns with having so many people in the VFW’s building, Drought said. 

“We're trying to find a balance with making it a good game for everybody and concerns we've had such as having too many people in this building,” Drought said. “We're going to try to make it so that people want to come here, spend some money, buy some opportunities to win some life-changing money, and do good things in the community for veterans.”

Emily Anaya, Rochelle Area Community Foundation executive director, came to the post on March 11 to accept her organization’s check from the VFW. 

“We deeply appreciate the collaboration between RACF and the VFW,” Anaya said. “Their dedication to the Rochelle community and other charitable organizations perfectly aligns with our values. This generous donation is truly appreciated and will undoubtedly have a meaningful effect on the nonprofits partners we serve."

Drought thanked the community, volunteers, and VFW staff for their support and work during the most recent contest that raised the money. 

“I thank everyone that has been involved for their contributions and coming down and spending time with us and buying a drink or a sandwich,” Drought said. “Thanks for visiting us. I want to thank our Club Operations Manager Robin Gounaris and all of our employees for the hard work they've done. They've been busting their tails to sell tickets and serve everybody at the same time. We have a number of volunteers who have helped out throughout this entire time. Some of them are here every week to sell tickets and food and help out. We couldn't have done this without all of those elements.”