COEUR d’ALENE — Money has been tight for Terry and Anjelique Pennington this year. Though they had bought tickets for the North Idaho College Foundation’s Really BIG Raffle the past two years, they weren’t planning to buy a ticket this year. They hadn’t even driven over to Post Falls to see the grand prize home.

But one day while Anjelique was working her usual night shift as a certified nursing assistant at Hospice of North Idaho, she saw a colleague buy a Really BIG Raffle ticket. That spurred her on to buy ticket number 440, she said. She dared to dream that maybe this year, the Penningtons might win a prize.

“I’m glad she did,” said Terry on Wednesday night, after he and Anjelique became the winners of a home at 551 E. Penrose Ave. in Post Falls valued at $310,000. The 2,000-square-foot house in the North Place community comes with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, front porch, backyard patio, an enclosed two-car garage, and numerous additional nice features.

“It was a God gift,” said the Penningtons.

Winners of the grand prize, major prizes, and early bird prizes did not need to be present at the drawing Wednesday to win. Anjelique was on her way to work when a friend, Patty Stanfield, told her the good news. She called in to work to let them know that she would be late, said Anjelique, who added that she was still going to work her night shift.

NIC Foundation executive director Rayelle Anderson said because this year was the 25th anniversary of the Really BIG Raffle, they increased the number of bonus prizes to 25, on top of the two early bird prizes and the five major prizes. Twenty-five bonus prize winners in attendance picked up $100 gift cards from Super 1 Foods, Yoke’s Fresh Market, Anthony’s Restaurant and Buck Knives.

Major prize winners walked away with cash prizes redeemable for purchases at any retailer. Steven West of Post Falls was the lucky winner of the $20,000 prize. Gordon Kannegaard of Spokane Valley notched the $10,000 prize. Norm Boehnke of Spokane got the $3,500 prize, and Michael Edmiston of Lynnwood, Wash., picked up the $2,000 prize. Early bird prize winners Marjorie Peak of Hayden, and Karl and Loretta Hartman of Coeur d’Alene, won $1,000 Costco gift cards.

The Really BIG Raffle was just an idea 26 years ago, explained Anderson, “to raise funds to purchase the land and pay for the house that serves as the NIC Carpentry/Construction Program learning lab, and to raise awareness and support for NIC student scholarships and program support.”

Anderson said after paying for all its expenses, the event raises more than $200,000 to help NIC students.

NIC President Rick MacLennan said the event was a unique way to sustain higher education in construction management and to self-fund each year’s hands-on carpentry project. It also connects the community with the program, said MacLennan.

Carpentry instructor Matt Piekarski said students will begin working toward next year’s house this month. The NIC students do everything from the foundation to framing to siding, with electricians, plumbers, and HVAC professionals handling some other tasks. Next year’s home will be ready next May, he said. It serves as a great way for NIC students to learn, he added.

At the 25th anniversary drawing, several hands in the crowd went up who had bought tickets since the first drawing. The first grand prize winner, Pat Regan, drove with a customized license plate for years that reflected his gratitude to the Really BIG Raffle: “TKS NIC.”

Tickets for the 2019 Really BIG Raffle grand prize drawing scheduled for July 10, 2019, are on sale now, according to Anderson. The three-bedroom, two-bath home will be constructed at 1781 W. Midway Drive in Post Falls in Greenstone Homes’ Montrose neighborhood. Tickets are $100 each and only 5,500 will be sold. To buy a ticket, go to bit.ly/ReallyBIG19 or nic.edu/rbr.