Women United of United Way of Lake County Takes Their Annual Winterfest Online with a Winterfest Wonderland Raffle Starting Tuesday, November 11
November 11, 2020 – Mentor, OH – Women United of United Way of Lake County (UWLC) kicked off the first of its two-part virtual raffle today. The raffle is being held in the lieu of the organization’s annual Winterfest event to raise donations for Lake County women and girls in need.
The virtual raffle gives residents the opportunity to purchase entries online for a chance to win nearly 40 raffle prizes while giving back to the community.
A full 100% of proceeds raised from the online raffle stay local benefiting Lake County women and girls who are struggling and in need of a hand up. “The economic effects of the pandemic have hit Lake County residents hard. Our goal with the rollout of the online raffle is to provide residents with a fun way to give back in time for the holiday,” said Tami Lewis, UWLC Director of Marketing and Communications and Women United staff lead.
The idea for the virtual raffle came about due to cancellation of Women United’s largest annual fundraiser, which was nixed due to the pandemic. The fundraiser is held each year during the first week of December. Last year’s 8th Annual Winterfest sold out, attracting 400 guests and raising a record $41,600. Guests enjoyed samples of food from twenty local restaurants, cocktails, raffle gifts and a performance by Mentor High School’s Top 25 Show Choir.
According to Michele Johnson of Lighthouse Advisers and chair of Women United, “Converting our Winterfest into an online raffle just made sense. Our community needs the funds now more than ever so canceling the event altogether was not an option. The online raffle is an easy way for people to help while also having the opportunity to win nearly some really great prizes.”
UWLC is raffling off close to 40 prizes via two back-to-back raffles that are being held online. Anyone 18 years or older can participate and buy “entries” for any number of prizes they are interested in. The first raffle features a 50/50 raffle and eighteen prizes, some of which include a $500 Airbnb gift card, a $200 Amazon gift card, a $200 DoorDash gift card, $100 in Ohio Lottery Tickets, a Vitamix Blender, and a Ninja Foodi Deluxe.
The first of two raffles began today and can be accessed at go.rallyup.com/winterfest1. This raffle will run through Monday, November 23, 2020, and the winners will be selected on Tuesday, November 24, 2020.
The second raffle will run from Tuesday, November 24, 2020 through Wednesday, December 2, 2020, and the winners will be selected on Thursday, December 3, 2020. The link for the second raffle is not live yet but can be accessed beginning November 24 at go.rallyup.com/winterfest2.
The Winterfest Wonderland Raffle is sponsored by The News-Herald, MiMi Magazine, Stanley Steemer, Lakeland Community College, The Lubrizol Corporation, Lake Health, First Federal Lakewood, and the Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library.
Anyone interested in making a donation in lieu of participating in the virtual raffle can do so in one of two simple ways: Online at uwlc.org/give (in the Notes section enter WU); Or by mailing a check payable to United Way of Lake County to United Way of Lake County, 9285 Progress Parkway, Mentor, OH 44060 ATT: Winterfest