Habitat for Humanity Kamloops offering up '69 Barracuda in raffle

Photo: Contributed

If you are going to conduct a car raffle, you cannot go wrong in offering up a 1969 Barracuda convertible.

That’s what the winner of the third annual Habitat for Humanity Kamloops Classic Car Raffle will be driving away in when the winner is announced in December. Ticket sales start today.

The organization’s executive director, Bill Miller, said Habitat for Humanity Kamloops will always put a 1960s convertible up for grabs, because there is no better decade for those kinds of cars.

“I’m of an age where I remember nostalgically the 60s cars, and there’s a lot of people that remember back when, and some of them had the convertibles,” Miller says. “It just stands us out from everybody else.”

The organization normally receives its car from Tappen’s Rust Bros Restorers, which is featured in the reality TV show Rust Valley Restorers, but this year’s ride came from a private donor. Rust Bros Restorers still did the refurbishing work, however, and the Barracuda, whose exterior and interior colour is Blue Fire Metallic, is valued at $62,000.

The Classic Car Raffle is Habitat Kamloops’ biggest annual fundraiser. The organization covers a vast region that stretches from Lumby to Golden to Prince George to just east of Hope, so every dollar is crucial when it comes to helping people get into attainable housing.

“There’s a huge demand out there, so we’re trying to leverage as many resources as we can to build as many houses or townhouses or apartments that we can,” Miller says. “The fundraiser provides us the revenue base to be able to facilitate more housing.”

Habitat for Humanity Kamloops recently opened its second ReStore, in Salmon Arm, on May 1, it will be starting construction on four houses in Blind Bay this summer, and it is in the process of applying for building permits on a 21-unit project in Salmon Arm.

“We’re trying to increase the inventory,” Miller says. “With house prices going the way they are, it’s getting tougher and tougher for a lot of families to get into housing. So hopefully we’re going to be able to bridge that gap. That’s what we’re working towards, and the raffle helps us get there.”

If the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted in time, the charity will draw the winning ticket during a 50s and 60s themed dance in Salmon Arm on Dec. 11.

Tickets are available online and at the ReStores in Kamloops and Salmon Arm. The car will also be making appearances at a handful of the charity’s retail partners this summer. Tickets will be available for purchase at some of those businesses as well.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.