The Prince George Hospice Society kicked off its signature fundraising campaign on Tuesday with the grand opening of the 2020 Hospice Dream Home.
This is the 10th year the hospice society has run its Dream Home Lottery, and executive director Donna Flood said this year matters more than ever.
"COVID has changed a lot of things for us. In order to do what we do, the Dream Home Lottery is out biggest event," Flood said. "We're really heavily relying on it this year. Our donations are down about 44 per cent."
The hospice society relies on donations and hosting a number of fundraising events to offer humane end of life care at the Rotary Hospice House, she said. Many of the hospice's normal events have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic also means changes at the Dream Home, located at 3955 Larisa Court in the Nechako View subdivision.
The house will still be open for public viewing from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, hospice special events coordinator Sandra Klimm said. However, there will be a maximum of six people allowed inside the home itself at a time, and a maximum of four in the garage – including ticket sales volunteers.
In addition, visitors are asked to sanitize their hands before entering and to not touch anything unnecessarily.
Virtual tours of the home and online ticket sales are available at www.hospicedreamhome.ca. Tickets, which cost $100 for the home draw and $25 for the 50/50 draws, are also available at the hospice society office at 1506 Ferry Avenue during business hours and at Canadian Tire from Thursday to Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
New this year, there will be two 50/50 draws – each for a prize of up to $150,000, Klimm said. The first 50/50 draw is Sept. 25 and the second is on Dec. 18.
The grand prize draw will be Dec. 24, and tickets will be on sale until they sell out or 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Early-bird draws will be held July 31, Aug. 28, Oct. 23 and Nov. 20.
The 3,400-square-foot home has five bedrooms, four bedrooms, an extra-wide single garage, an office and a fully finished basement with separate access. The home is worth roughly $700,000.
"This dream home means a lot of us," Flood said.
