If you break it down into months and weeks and compare how much money Peter Bushelman collects for charity or schools, he probably averages about $400 a week.

At the annual raffle, held to raise funds for Catholic Inner-City Schools Education (CISE), it was reported that he has single-handedly collected about $1.8 million over 22 years for the group.

This year, he collected about $127,000 for CISE. And before they finished counting the money, the 70-year-old retired banker was off collecting money for the Sisters of Mercy.

"Once you get started, you have to keep it up," Mr. Bushelman said. "Many of them, I call them every year or call them right after one campaign ends and another starts."

Mr. Bushelman serves on the boards of several charities and in between does a little consulting, he said. "I end up giving a lot of free advice to a lot of people," he said.

He worked in banking 35 years, as a credit administrator and chief lending officer for Central Trust and PNC Bank.

"Mr. Bushelman does the leg work for the raffle," said Eric Young, communications coordinator for the CISE fund. "He has chaired the raffle for 22 years, which has been our major fund raiser. He sells almost all of the tickets for the raffle himself."

Mr. Bushelman of Wyoming has committed himself to the CISE raffle, a mission started to provide tuition assistance allowing underprivileged children to attend one of the eight Catholic elementary schools in Cincinnati's urban areas.

The CISE schools include St. Boniface, Northside; St. Francis Seraph, Over-the-Rhine; St. Joseph, West End; St. Francis de Sales, Walnut Hills; Corryville Catholic, Corryville; Our Mother of Sorrows, Roselawn and Holy Family and Resurrection, Price Hill.

"I think education is the answer to all the world's problems," said Mr. Bushelman. "Education is a way of taking a lot of people off the dole and get them on the tax role. I think our real heroes are our teachers. They are why I keep raising money."

The adopt-a-family program, an effort by the Cincinnati Concerned Citizens Association to match needy families with sponsors for gift-giving, has started.

The Rev. Raymond Jones, executive director, said the goal this year is to match 300 families with sponsors.

"Last year we matched 600 families with sponsors," he said. "This year, because of the economy being down, we settled for 300 families. We will help a family only if that family shows a willingness to help itself."

He said CCCA will work through One Force Staffing/LaborSolutions, a temporary employment agency, to get jobs for those who can work.

"We want people to go to work. The jobs are temporary, but can lead to permanent employment," the Rev. Mr. Jones said.

For more information, call 723-0033.

Allen Howard's "Some Good News" column runs Sunday-Friday. If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at 768-8362, at ahoward@enquirer.com or by fax at 768-8340.