Copesan Raises More Than $10,000 for Scholarship and Research Funds

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — During its recent conference in Newport Beach, Calif, Copesan held a raffle and voice auction to benefit two programs that contribute to the future of the pest management industry.

Attendees at the conference raised $5,120 through the raffle. Copesan matched this amount, bringing the total to $10,240 to be equally divided between the Pi Chi Omega Scholarship Foundation and the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) Foundation. These efforts have raised more than $24,000 during the past seven years.

Pi Chi Omega also will receive $375 raised by auctioning the “Arthropod of the Hour,” a clock with preserved insect specimens on each hour of the face. The clock was donated by Gerry Wegner, Technical Director and Staff Entomologist of ProGuard Commercial Pest Solutions of Columbus, Ohio.

Pi Chi Omega, a pest management industry fraternity, provides scholarships to entomology students. To date, the fraternity has awarded more than 60 scholarships totaling more than $70,000. The NPMA Foundation, which has been in existence for more than 30 years, provides grants for the research, development and refinement of pest management tools and techniques.

“Copesan is proud to support both the Pi Chi Omega scholarship fund and the NPMA Foundation for research” said Deni Naumann, Copesan president. “Raising $5,120 created a lot of excitement among our Partners and staff attending the event. It was also fun to witness the bidding taking place we auctioned one of Gerry Wegner’s beautifully hand-crafted insect clocks.”

The raffle, sponsored by Interview Technologies, awarded prizes as follows:

• Grand Prize — $1,000 Home Depot gift card — Parry Ayer, Copesan
• First runner-up — $500 travel voucher on Northwest or Delta Airlines — John O’Reilly, Plunkett’s Pest Control, Fridley, Minn.
• Second runner-up — $100 Home Depot gift card, $100 Starbuck’s gift card, $100 Target gift card — Alfie Treleven, Sprague Pest Solutions, Tacoma, Wash.
• Third runner-up — $100 Wendy’s Gift Card, $100 Home Depot Gift Card — Billy Blasingame, Arrow Exterminators, Atlanta, Ga.