St. John’s church cornhole fundraiser draws 80 in community turnout

About 80 people filled the St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church lawn at 55 Wilbur Blvd. in Poughkeepsie for Cornhole for a Cause, with players, spectators and meal volunteers all counted in the turnout. The June 28 event ran from 11:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., welcomed all ages, allowed teams to form on the spot or by advance sign-up, and set the price at $5 per player, with every dollar collected directed to St. John’s Food Pantry.

The church’s follow-up called the tournament a great success, and the details behind that success were as much about the support cast as the bags. St. John’s thanked the Hospitality Team for cooking, the Social Ministry Team for organizing snacks and Diane for making a ton of corncob sugar cookies that were handed out as prizes. For a church fundraiser, that mix mattered: the event was competitive enough to keep cornhole at the center, but informal enough to turn into a meal, a volunteer shift and a Saturday-style hangout in one afternoon.

The June turnout also fit a pattern. St. John’s said the 2025 Cornhole for a Cause collected over $1,500 for the food pantry, after a 2024 recap said $1,525 was donated. That earlier field also produced a bracket that named Taylor Einterz, Daniel Tutwiler and James among the semifinalists, with Brent Feldweg and Tom Gilgert taking the championship. In 2023, the church said 52 participants took part, and Diane Gehringer made corncob cookies to use as awards.

The fundraiser landed in a year when St. John’s is celebrating its 125th anniversary, giving the cornhole event a fixed place inside a larger church calendar. With a $5 entry, an open invitation to all ages and a direct line to the food pantry, the tournament has now shown the kind of formula that can be repeated without much friction and still draw a crowd.