NEWPORT — A frontline healthcare worker and boat enthusiast from Lake Elmore has won the handcrafted canoe raffled from the Craftsbury Community Care Center.
Greg McLelland of Lake Elmore, an ER nurse at Copley Hospital, bought one ticket through a colleague.
Phil Pike, the maker of the sought-after canoes, drew winning ticket #155 at the Craftsbury Farmers Market.
“I was so excited when I heard,” McLelland said. “I can’t wait to try this out.”
McLelland and his father attended a workshop last year in Maine for making wooden boats and subsequently built a wooden kayak.
Phil Pike’s canoe will be a fitting way to decompress and spend more time with his father.
Craftsbury Community Care Center is a non-profit model committed to providing a quality supported living environment for elders in all socioeconomic sectors, including Medicaid-based, and fundraising is critical to closing financial gaps.
Its usual fundraisers, March’s Sugar on Snow and July’s Cookout and Auction, were both canceled due to COVID 19.
This is the Care Center’s first try at a raffle, which raised nearly $10,000 to help make up the loss.
The raffle’s success means the Care Center can continue with plans to replace declining kitchen equipment, install a new walking path for residents off the vehicle drive, and adapt and enhance activities to support residents during the pandemic.
Only 200 tickets were sold at $50 each.
Board members say credit for the raffle’s success goes to Phil Pike, whose generosity made the raffle possible, and Care Center Board immediate past president Mark McAndrew and current President Jane Marlin, whose hard work led the board in this new endeavor.
More information about Craftsbury Community Care Center is available by calling 802-586-2415 or visiting craftsburycommunitycarecenter.org.
Donations can be made via the website or by mail, Craftsbury Community Care Center, 1754 E. Craftsbury Rd, Craftsbury, 05826.
