Central Community Homes (CCH) presented the winner of its 50/50 raffle with a cool $10,120 last week.
Winklerite Dah Blet had the winning ticket drawn Tuesday evening at the community’s Canada Day festivities
The raffle in support of CCH’s new affordable housing complex going up at the corner of North Railway Ave. and Main St. reached heights of $20,240 thanks to an outpouring of community support.
“We didn’t really know what to expect with this,” said Dave Kasdorf, CCH vice-chair. “But we had lots of local support. Once people knew that it was going to the 28-unit apartment block we’re building, we saw ticket sales really ramp up.
“We’re super excited that our winner is a local and it’s going to a young family,” he added. “She was overjoyed when she picked up her cheque.”
CCH’s half of the funds takes a bite out of the cost of the apartment project, which is on budget and on schedule to welcome its first families this fall.
But Kasdorf shared they need to raise another $500,000 or so to get this and future, much-needed housing projects off the ground.
“Fundraising will continue,” he said. “If there are people willing to make a donation, they can always drop off a cheque at Central Station.”
Donations can also be made online at centralcommunityhomes.ca.
The need for affordable housing in Winkler continues to grow.
“Right now there’s over 100 people on the wait list at Central Station for housing,” Kasdorf noted. “The needs range from one-bedroom apartments for single seniors to three-bedrooms for families.
“As the community continues to grow, the need continues to grow. So the 28-unit that we’re building is great, but it really only kind of scratches the surface.”
