STARS Home Lottery gets underway with virtual tours during COVID-19 pandemic

The STARS Home Lottery will have a more virtual feel to it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fundraiser, which is the biggest of the year for the air ambulance service, gets underway Wednesday.

Mark Oddan, a STARS Air Ambulance spokesperson, said the prizes are still the same great ones offered in previous years, but the fundraiser will look a bit different.

“We don’t have our showhomes open at this time but we’ll be amping up our availability of photos and videos on our website for people to take virtual tours and feel like they’re in the showhomes even if they can’t be there,” Oddan said.

This will include a narrated home tour, a floor plan available online along with additional multimedia content.

“We really hope that people are able to look at those images, look at those videos and imagine themselves being in those stunning dream showhomes,” Oddan said.

The grand prize homes are located in Greenbryre Estates in Saskatoon and in Spruce Creek Estates in Pilot Butte.

“Both homes try to strike a balance between homes that are modern and unique and aesthetically bold and pleasing but also quite functional,” Oddan said.

The home in Pilot Butte is around 3,100 square feet and has four bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. The Saskatoon home is just over 3,400 square feet and also has four bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms.

Oddan said STARS needs to fundraise about $10.5 million — 50 per cent of its operating budget — every year and the home lottery is its biggest effort of the year.

“(The lottery) usually nets out about $2 million to $2.5 million per year if it sells out so it is very significant for us,” Oddan said.

It was easy for the lottery to pivot to more online sales since it was an option offered in the past.

“Online is by far the most popular, as well as the toll-free line,” Oddan said. “In many ways the lottery is well-positioned to operate in an environment like this luckily.”

Oddan said people have still been donating to STARS through the pandemic but it has made things difficult. The STARS Regina Gala had to be postponed due to concerns around COVID-19.

“It is an uncertain time and it makes the lottery that much more important,” Oddan said. “STARS was built by the community for the community and we are so lucky to be in this community and really hope that our allies will continue to be with us so that we can continue to be there for them when they need us.”

Oddan said STARS is cautiously optimistic over how successful the lottery will be due to the pandemic.

“It’s uncertain times and it’s difficult times for many and we’re very, very aware of that but we are very hopeful our allies will pull through for us like they have in the past,” he said.

Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 1-844-STARS-SK (782-7775).