Playhouse raffle to support Specialized Needs Recreation
David Cole | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 years, 4 months AGO
<p>Tobias Carroll stands in front of a playhouse Monday that resembles the structure that will be raffled by Specialized Needs Recreation. Carroll and other volunteers are currently constructing the 6-foot by 7-foot playhouse for the October 2 drawing.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - A fairy tale playhouse might just be a $20 raffle ticket away.
Volunteers from nonprofit organization Specialized Needs Recreation have been working with program participants during the last five months to build a 6-foot by 7-foot cedar playhouse. They're calling it a "whimsical playhouse," and it's just about finished.
"I wanted a (playhouse) house when I was little," said program participant Tobias Carroll of Coeur d'Alene.
Carroll, 20, worked with program participant Jeremiah Cooper of Hayden.
Cooper, 17, said he was glad to give back to the program.
Five hundred tickets are being sold through Oct. 1, and proceeds go directly back into the organization's programs.
Kathy Kelly, program coordinator, said the playhouse raffle is the result of some brainstorming done by the fundraising committee.
The playhouse looks like it's a hobbit house, with a little bit of Scandinavian style thrown in.
"I wanted it to look twisted as if it had 100 years of snowload on it," said program volunteer Jim Walsh of Hayden. "There's nothing square on it except the floor."
Even the gables poke out of the roof at odd angles.
Volunteer Dan Cooley put on what he called a "shotgun shack roof."
"It has a pattern, but it doesn't show," Cooley said.
The playhouse has wavy edge siding and the front door will be "all messed up and funky," Walsh said.
Specialized Needs Recreation provides recreational opportunities for kids and adults with disabilities. It's funded by the United Way and the cities of Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Hayden and Rathdrum and from donations from businesses and individuals. It also does monthly fundraisers and receives grant funding.
The playhouse raffle will be called on Oct. 2 at SNR's office, 1253 E. Sherman.
Second prize is $300 and third is $200. Winners don't need to be present at the raffle.
Tickets can be purchased by calling one of the organization's fundraising committee members: Kathy Kelly at (208) 818-6624, Charlene Hoffman at (208) 691-1088, Wendy Carroll at (208) 765-2764, or Janice White at (208) 661-3946.