PDQ Owner Gives Back to School with Car Wash Sale Coupons

Meghan Yakel, Staff Writer, Advanced Journalism

One of the most well known and successful fundraisers at Notre Dame Academy happens to be the PDQ car wash sale coupons.

The PDQ coupons are given out to athletes of all sports from NDA part way through the first semester. The athletes are expected to sell as many car wash coupons as they can to raise financial support for the school’s athletic program. Each athlete is given 20 coupons and are able to receive even more to sell from Athletic Director Stef Mathu or Mrs. Margaret Yakel in the Athletic Office in the priory.

Historically, student athletes have sold up to 7,000 PDQ coupons a year. Based on the number of tickets sold, the schools raises anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 per year for the budget.  

The fundraiser started in the mid-80s when Mr. Red Lewis, the owner of PDQ and a 1960 graduate of Premontre High School, was approached about helping the athletic department with a fundraiser to benefit Premontre athletics.

“The first year he gave us his car wash locations and we provided the workers to run the washes for one entire day.  After that he came up with the idea of selling tickets for a car wash so since the second year it has been ticket sales,” said Mr. Ken Flaten, Vice President for Business Operations.

The people that coordinate the fundraiser include Mathu, Yakel, Mrs.Claire Tietz in Advancement and the people at PDQ who take charge of the marketing and are the main contacts for the program now.

“I believe we are the only school in Green Bay that this fundraiser is done for.  This is because, as a graduate of our schools, Mr. Lewis wanted to give something back to his school,” said Flaten.

“The PDQ car wash ticket sale is the main fundraiser for the school’s athletics because of the ease of selling the tickets and the appeal to anyone to buy as they are something people use quite frequently. The time frame helped with sales at it was a great Christmas stocking stuffer,” said Flaten.

The fundraiser is a win-win for everyone– the school receives support and the people that buy the tickets get savings on what they would have paid if they bought the package car washes directly.