Not even the thought of living in a Spruce Kings show home could tempt a man away from his family.
Don Lucas won last year's Spruce Kings show home and has only set foot in it for about 15 minutes.
Lucas, born in Prince George, is a resident of Mackenzie, who now also lives part-time in Parksville. Both locations bring him closer to family, a big priority in his life.
Lucas is a proud supporter of local causes, and said it really wasn't about winning the house for him.
"I don't ever buy tickets to win, I buy tickets to donate," said Lucas. "You don't even have to win to be a winner. When it's going to a worthy cause, we're all winners."
It feels weird to have won a house, he added.
"I don't deserve it - I didn't work for it," said Lucas about the house that's now up for sale. "I don't take anything for granted and I couldn't believe it when I won the house. It was the first thing I'd ever won."
To support the Spruce Kings is very important to Lucas and that's why he bought the ticket.
"The Spruce Kings is an organization that is in the centre of northern B.C. that gives youth the opportunity to excel in their hockey skills."
The youth don't have to go to Vancouver to get elite hockey training, it's right here in Prince George, he added.
"It's very important that the Spruce Kings are there to help youth realize their dream of being able to make it to the NHL," said Lucas. "We all want to give our kids the opportunity to excel and the Spruce Kings organization is a very important part of that."
Lucas cites the Spruce Kings hockey school as another big bonus for the community because Prince George children can get specialized training without leaving home.
"And if you give kids the opportunity to excel, they will excel," said Lucas. "I would like to thank the Spruce Kings for the opportunity to even win a house."
This year's Spruce Kings show home is located at 2693 Links Drive in the Aberdeen Glen subdivision. Hours of operation are Monday to Friday from noon to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The home is valued at $532,821 and includes five major appliances from RK Furniture Gallery, taxes, security system from A-Tech Security and one year free monitoring.
The show home lottery is the organization's biggest fundraiser and accounts for more than 65 per cent of their total budget. The Spruce Kings are a non-profit community-owned organization with all proceeds staying in Prince George.
Grand prize draw date is March 19. Tickets are on sale for $100. There are 9,500 tickets for sale. There are many early bird prizes and 50/50 tickets are $20 each with a maximum for 4,000 tickets sold for each of three separate draws.
To order tickets by phone call 250-962-4946 (IWIN), or for those out of town call 1-855-962-4946. For more information visit sprucekingsshowhome.ca.
