THUNDER BAY – Last year, one family kept coming back to the Fort William Rotary House Lottery home week after week, envisioning what it would be like to live there.
While they ultimately didn’t win the grand prize, their ticket purchase did help the organization raise $661,000 for about a dozen local charities.
Rotarians are back at it again in 2024, the 38th year the draw has been held, with a grand prize home valued at $748,000. The house is located at 101 Bruin Crescent at the intersection of Weiler Boulevard and Cougar Crescent in the Parkdale subdivision.
The two-level, 1,362-square foot home, built by Triad Contracting, features four bedrooms, two on the main floor and two in the basement, three bathrooms and a 362-square foot attached garage and nine-foot ceilings throughout.
Lottery chairwoman Cindy Levanto said the draw has been so successful over the years, raising more than $8 million for local charities, because ticket buyers know one lucky winner will get a new house to call home, but also those who don’t win will be supporting plenty of great causes.
“It’s a dream lottery,” Levanto said.
“As Rotarians, we give back to the community. That’s why we have the house lottery and that’s why we continue to do the house lottery as long as we possibly can.”
This year, organizers have migrated fully to an online draw, mirroring the first draw after COVID-19 struck, a draw that sold out in five-and-a-half weeks.
Logistically, it made more sense than selling physical tickets.
“This year is our first time doing it all online, and it will allow us to sell tickets right up until the night before the draw,” Levanto said.
Another twist is the ability to buy tickets at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation’s 50/50 store at Intercity Shopping Centre, a venture foundation president and CEO Glenn Craig said allows the club to use its fundraising expertise to help sell more tickets.
“We thought this was a wonderful opportunity,” he said.
“We kind of came in mid-stream last year with the House Lottery and this year we’re in full partnership from the very beginning. We’ve been very successful. We’ve figured out a few things along the way and we want to apply those to the Fort William House Lottery so that we can float everybody’s boat higher.”
In addition to the grand prize, there will be $50,000 in early bird draws, starting with a $10,000 draw on April 12.
Tickets are available at www.fwrotaryhouselottery.ca and are on sale until 11:59 p.m. on June 30. The draw takes place at noon on Canada Day, at the house.
