THUNDER BAY — Thirty-seven years ago, when the Fort William Rotary House Lottery entered into its humble beginnings, the grand prize was valued at less than $100,000.
Organizers had to go door-to-door in the final weeks of the campaign to ensure not only were their costs covered, but they made a little money to give back to the community.
Skip ahead to 2023 and how things have changed.
This year’s house, located at 488 Muskrat Drive in the Parkdale subdivision, is worth $750,000, tickets are being sold online and the draw is just a couple of years removed from selling out in a remarkable five-and-a-half weeks.
Bob Hookham, co-chair of the House Lottery, said the draw just keeps getting better and better and more and more popular every year since that first one.
“Every year after that it grew, and it grew and it grew,” he said. “The expansion has gone well. The fact that we can now go up to 20,000 tickets helps offset the increase in the cost of the houses.”
The house itself is a custom bi-level with an attached single-vehicle garage, built by Triad Contracting. It features nine-foot-high ceilings throughout, four bedrooms, two on each level, a master bedroom with an ensuite and walk-in closet, a partially covered backyard deck and a recreation room on the lower level with a built-in fireplace.
The kitchen has custom cabinetry and both it and the bathrooms come equipped with quartz countertops.
“It’s an open concept. All the appliances come with the house,” Hookham said.
More importantly, the house comes with some fantastic benefits to the community. Last year’s draw raised more than $430,000 for 17 different charities, including Our Kids Count, Camp Quality, the George Jeffrey Children’s Foundation and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation.
The money was valuable, said Our Kids Count executive director Jackie Knough.
“We do a lot at Our Kids Count and we couldn’t do it alone,” she said. “We really do depend on our community partners and our sponsors. The House Lottery has done a lot for us in the past. Last year we were able to refurbish our fridge and freezer unit.”
For an organization that does a lot of food security programs, a working walk-in fridge and freezer unit is invaluable.
“It was really not working well and we were having a lot of trouble. Thanks to the House Lottery we were able to get a new unit and now I don’t get calls in the middle of the night.”
Tickets, which are available at www.fwrotaryhouselottery.ca, are $100 each or three for $250. Open houses will be held on Saturdays, starting on March 4.
The draw will be held on July 1 at Marina Park during Canada Day festivities.
