Last Thursday marked the official opening of the 19th annual STARS Lottery with a showing of the grand prize home located at 1 Rosewood Rise in Sylvan Lake.
Three other homes will be given away located in Calgary, Sherwood Park, and Lethbridge along with prizes worth over $3.7 million.
Among the prizes are a 2012 Mercedes ML350 with a four-night Las Vegas vacation package for two at Mandalay Bay, plus $5,000 cash.
There are also 10 vehicles, 35 vacations, 2,223 electronic prizes and 850 other prizes including cash, furniture, jewelry and luggage. Also two winners will receive a flight aboard a STARS helicopter.
Businesses within Red Deer also donated about $200,000 worth of work and materials to help build this year’s dream home in Sylvan Lake.
STARS is a charitable non-profit organization that provides service 24 hours a day, seven days a week from bases in Calgary, Edmonton and Grande Prairie.
So far STARS has flown 2,100 missions and saved countless number of lives. This year STARS will be introducing a AW139 helicopter to their Edmonton base, which will help pilots get to the scene faster. Next year another helicopter will be added to the Calgary base as well.
Every year the lottery brings $10 million net to the organization, which helps pay for missions and the three bases in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge. STARS covers 94% of the population of Alberta.
“STARS flies an average of four missions a day in Alberta, and we could not continue to do this without your support of the STARS Lottery,” said Dr. Greg Powell, CEO of STARS.
This year’s very important patient who was in a collision six years ago leaving her on the edge of her life spoke during the grand opening celebration about her experience with STARS.
Valina Pope had a broken leg, two collapsed lungs, broken ribs, a crack in her skull and all kinds of internal injuries as a result of the collision.
She was airlifted by STARS and spent about a week in the hospital and it took six months for her to recover.
“Without STARS I wouldn’t be alive today,” said Pope. “STARS has always welcomed me and they are like family.
“I was barely 17-years-old at the time of the accident and I helped out my community and thought nothing would ever happen to me and thought karma would have my back. But when karma let me down STARS was there to pick me up.”
The early bird draw is March 15 with the cut off for ticket sales Feb. 29 at midnight. The final draw is set for April 12 with ticket cut off at midnight on March 21. If tickets sell out early, all prizes will be drawn on the early bird draw on March 15.
Tickets for the lottery are now 45% sold out, and can be purchased at the show home in Sylvan Lake or by calling 1-888-880-0992. Also visit www.starslottery.ca for more information.
tsigurdson@reddeerexpress.com
