The past year or two have been challenging for dream home lotteries but organizers of the STARS home lottery are hopeful they can sell out once again this year.
Officials kicked off their 17th annual campaign Wednesday by unveiling the new show home in St. Albert.
“Before STARS can continue to do good in the community, it has to do well,” said foundation chair Bob Normand. “The most important thing to doing well is the lottery, which is so critical to our success.”
STARS has an annual budget of about $22 million. Its goal is to raise about $10 million from the home lottery. It’s already half sold out thanks to a mail-out campaign targeted at previous ticket buyers.
The lottery will make available approximately 900,000 tickets. Even though the lottery tends to sell out before the early bird draw date, Normand isn’t overconfident this year.
“You’re never confident. The day you get confident is the day you get sloppy,” he said.
Some home lotteries have failed to achieve their targets in recent years. The Winner’s Choice Lottery, which awarded a Sturgeon Valley show home in December, sold 85 per cent of its tickets during its 2009 campaign after selling out the year before.
“There’s a certain market saturation that goes on. I wouldn’t call it fatigue … but it’s a discretionary purchase, which is why we certainly don’t want to be overconfident.”
The STARS lottery includes four show homes across the province. This year they’re located in St. Albert, Sylvan Lake, Calgary and Lethbridge. There are more than 3,000 prizes worth $4.8 million, including vehicles, vacations and electronics.
Most people support the lottery because they want to support the organization, Normand said, but it’s nice to have a chance to win something they won’t buy for themselves.
Located at 91 Lacombe Drive, the St. Albert home is a bungalow with 1,800 sq. ft. on the main floor and a fully developed basement. It’s valued at $812,000.
STARS began in Calgary in 1985 and expanded to Edmonton in 1991. It opened a third helicopter base in Grande Prairie in 2006. The service has flown 19,000 missions and is awaiting its sixth helicopter this fall.
It’s the only helicopter ambulance service in Canada that does night service calls, meaning the aircraft can land where the casualties are rather than pre-arranged landing sites, said pilot Scott Young, a St. Albert resident.
STARS has night vision goggles and very advanced global positioning equipment that allow instrument flying at night, he said.
STARS also has state-of-the-art ventilators, monitors and ultrasound equipment.
“We’ve come a long way and it’s been your generosity that’s brought us there,” said flight nurse Corinne Edwards.
Tickets are priced at $25 each, five for $100 and 15 for $250. The early bird draw takes place April 6 and the grand prize draw on April 23. More information is available at www.starslottery.com.
