MARYVILLE/TROY – Community members have the chance to win a half-a-million-dollar home while helping local kids. The Home Builders and Remodelers Metro East Association (HBRMEA) is sponsoring a raffle where the grand prize is a new home in Troy, Illinois, or $300,000 cash. Tickets cost $100 and only 20,000 tickets will be sold. All proceeds go to Make-A-Wish Illinois and Make-A-Wish Missouri/Kansas. “Right now in Missouri and Illinois, there are over 2,000 kids waiting for wishes,” said Shannon Stelling with HBRMEA. “This project can make such an impact and cut into that number by a large amount to help these kids get their wishes come true…I encourage everyone to come out and support this project.” The home drawing will take place on April 29, 2025, live on Fox 2. The winner can choose between the new home in Troy or the $300,000. The house, valued at over $500,000, is 1,800 square feet with an unfinished basement. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a three-car garage. There are also several other prizes available, including a hot tub, an aluminum fence, free massages for a year and more. If you purchase tickets before Jan. 31, 2025, you will also be entered into an early bird drawing for the chance to win a $12,000 golf package and golf cart. There will be an open house at the Wish Home, located in the 1400 block of Guilford Place in Troy, from 4:30–8 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2025. Ozzie Smith will be in attendance from 5–7 p.m. that day, and he will be taking pictures and greeting guests. Stelling thanked the many sponsors who made the raffle possible, including several trade partners and builders who donated supplies and labor. She encouraged people to purchase tickets sooner rather than later, noting that the money goes to a great cause to help local kids and their families who are struggling with critical illnesses. “The community has really reached out to us,” she said. “We have such a giving community in the Metro East, in the St. Louis area and on the Illinois side, and we’re really counting on everybody to help us sell those tickets out by April 29.” For more information about the Wish Home Raffle, including how to enter, visit hbrmea.org/wish-home-raffle/. You can purchase tickets online or stop by Mark’s Appliance in Edwardsville to purchase tickets in person.
