D'HANIS, Texas — A gun raffle Facebook post made by a fundraising organization that donates money to the D'Hanis school district has been removed.
Last week, the Facebook page for the group "D'Hanis Spirit Fundraising" posted a flyer advertising a fundraising raffle with winning prizes of four different types of guns, including an AR-556 rifle. The flyer said the money raised would support athletes of D'Hanis ISD.
The post, which has since been removed, was shared with KENS 5 by a viewer who took a screen shot before it was deleted.
Comments to that organization's Facebook page showed concerns about the raffle's appropriateness after the Uvalde school shooting where an AR-15 rifle was used in the massacre. D'Hanis is about a half-hour drive from Uvalde.
Wednesday, D'Hanis ISD issued a statement making it clear that the organization is a separate group and not part of the district, despite having a district logo as its profile picture. The district was also not consulted about the raffle prizes. See the full statement below:
"It has come to our attention that a local non-profit organization is holding a raffle that includes guns as prizes. It is our understanding that there has been some confusion caused by the organization’s use of one of many of the District’s school logos on their Facebook page. To be clear, this raffle is being conducted by the D’Hanis Spirit Organization. D’Hanis ISD is not conducting or participating in the raffle. The District was not consulted regarding the prizes that were selected for the raffle, and has no say in how the D’Hanis Spirit Organization chooses to raise funds."
KENS 5 has reached out to D'Hanis Spirit Fundraising and has not received a response.