The 2012 FAZE Christmas raffle winner is Charmaine Efferson of Zachary. Efferson’s name was drawn Dec. 15 during the the Christmas Open House celebration.

She received her check in the amount of $1,000 on Jan. 24 at the Bank of Zachary by Laura Steen, FAZE Raffle Chair, and Deanna Mankins, Treasurer of FAZE.

FAZE, Foundation Assisting Zachary Education, was founded in 1992 by Dr. Lynn Buzhardt of the Animal Center and is a non-profit organization which raises funds and makes donations primarily for educational purposes in Zachary schools.

The non-profit has raised over $200,000 for many educational projects since its inception.

FAZE's board members consist of a representative from each school in the Zachary Community School District, including Port Hudson Career Academy and Zachary's Early Learning Center.

All monies generated by FAZE go into one large fund and is then divided and dispersed to each Zachary school based on the number of students enrolled at that school, said Steen.

The organization's fundraisers pay for educational items such as expenses or registrations fees teachers may incur for seminars or workshops; materials for students; and anything the school or district cannot fund for the educators or pupils.

Steen says workshops for teachers and para-professionals, computers, software and calculators are just some of the items FAZE contributions have funded.