Friday, Jun. 20, 2008

St. Jude Dream Home Raffle Right Around the Corner

Fundraiser to Benefit Memphis-Based Research Hospital that Treats Children with Cancer

By Julie Greene

Contributing Writer

For many people throughout the Metroplex, owning a home in this tough economic climate would be a dream come true. Paying only a $100 for it would be an even greater dream.

As part of a local fundraising effort to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, thousands of residents are taking chances on winning the 2008 St. Jude Dallas Dream Home in Grapevine. As of June 16, fewer than 8,000 of the 10,500 tickets available had been sold.

Still want to tour the house? It not too late, but you’d better hurry.

Since Memorial Day weekend, about 3,000 residents have toured the home, with more than 2,000 of them visiting during the last two weekends, said April Austin, regional marketing manager for the Memphis-based children’s research hospital. Open House tours continued this week June 16 through 20 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Final tours will be conducted Saturday, June 21, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. before the home closes in preparation for the grand prize drawing.

The winner will be announced live Saturday, June 21, during NBC5’s 6 p.m. news broadcast.

Coordinated through the hospital’s Dallas regional events planning office, the local effort is one of many conducted annually in communities across the country.

"The first [raffle] was conducted in Shreveport back in 1991," Austin said. "It proved to be quite successful and since then the dream home project has grown throughout to 40 markets across the nation. It’s one of the hospital’s biggest moneymakers."

The Dallas office began taking part in the dream home project five years ago and has raised nearly $5 million in that time. Nationally, the program has raised more than $100 million for the hospital, which treats children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

This is the fifth year the Dallas regional office has taken part. Previously, dream homes were built and awarded in Corinth, Frisco and Prosper.

For the first time, Cary Clarke Homes, based in Southlake, coordinated the construction of this year’s dream home — a four-bedroom, three-bath stone and brick home built on a corner lot in Grapevine’s Crestwood Hollow community off Hall-Johnson Road. Every component of the 4,011 square-foot home was donated by or sponsored by an area business — more than 50 in all.

"Giving back to the community is one of the cornerstones of our company, so when St. Jude representatives contacted us about an opportunity they had for us to be involved in a fundraising effort we went for it," said Cary Clarke, president of Cary Clarke Homes.

His company appealed to its subcontractors and vendors to contribute whatever they could in terms of products, building materials and labor to the effort to keep construction costs low.

Despite increasingly tougher economic times in the construction market, Clarke said he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of sacrifice his team and that of his partners were willing to expend on the project.

"It was a great experience," Clarke said. "St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a great charity, so when [people] heard the call, everybody was willing to get involved."

Typically, Cary Clarke Homes and its partners spend 26 weeks building a home, but looking at a Memorial Day weekend grand opening for public tours, the team fast-tracked construction efforts and finished it in 22 weeks.

"We finished the project 5 minutes before the grand opening," Clarke recalled.

Estimated to be worth $445,000, the home features energy efficient appliances, a three-car garage, a game room and media room. Volunteers from the local chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha, an international philanthropic organization, have overseen ticket sales and provided information to residents touring the house. Tickets can be purchased at the house or at Comerica Bank and Hancock Fabric locations.

"We’ve been assisting St. Jude Hospital since 1972 when Danny Thomas approached Epsilon Sigma Alpha International and asked us to take on St. Jude’s as an international fundraising effort," said Linda Bomar, a co-chairwoman for ESA’s involvement in the local effort.

Additional prizes, donated by area businesses and sponsors, will also be awarded on June 21.