Several weeks after winning a state competition, it looks like the Oak Harbor High School culinary arts team has raised the $6,000 needed to pay for a trip to Charlotte, N.C., where a national cooking competition takes place beginning later this week.

“If everybody sends in the money they say they’ll send, then we’ll be in good shape,” said Louise Reuble, culinary arts teacher at the high school.

She said the bulk of the donations came from calls from people and groups eager to support the students. She said donations ranged from $50 to $1,000. The fund-raising effort was boosted by a raffle by Scott Fraser, owner of Frasers Gourmet Hideaway. He raffled off a dinner for four to his restaurant. He has been a volunteer who has helped the team in numerous areas.

The five-person team, comprised of Melissa Rust, Peter McWilliams, Chrissy Shuart, Lindsey Bear and Christina Kissinger, won the statewide cooking competition held last month in Seattle. Their winning meal was a warm goat cheese baby curly endive salad and honey pear compote, grilled mahi mahi, Dungeness crab cake with a mango salsa and a chocolate pistachio mousse with strawberry gelatin.

The cooking squad was scheduled to leave Oak Harbor early Wednesday morning to fly to Charlotte. The competition takes place April 20 to 22 and the students will return early next week.

Reuble thanked the community for all the support that helped the students get to the national competition.