Jun 15, 2009 6:29 pm US/Eastern
Vets Charity Comes Up Short In Condo Raffle
MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) ―
In the beginning of the year, Tim and Diane Sureath thought they had come up with a great idea. They planned to raffle off their Miami Beach condo and give the proceeds to Veterans Retreat, Inc., a Miami-based charity they founded which benefits America's wounded veterans.
The idea was to sell five thousand raffle tickets at $100 apiece. But as the six month contest deadline neared, sales were nowhere close to a sell-out.
When they held the raffle drawing in the office of a Bal Harbour law firm on Monday, the numbers were a bit disappointing.
"Today we've got 767 tickets to draw from," said an upbeat Sureath.
Since the couple did not sell the minimum number of tickets outlined in the rules, the condo will remain in their hands.
"I'm a little disappointed it didn't sell, but we still raised a lot of money for charity and someone still won a lot of money," said Tim Sureath.
The winner of the raffle received $30 thousand. An equal amount was donated to the charity which brings wounded war veterans to South Florida for a combination therapy sessions and vacation.
"A lot of these guys surf the internet all day long with nothing to do. We want to help them find some purpose," says Sureath.
Adopting a "If at first you don't succeed...try again" attitude, the Sureaths plan to try another raffle in the future with even more prizes.
Not only will they put their condo back on the block, they plan to add a vintage 1959 Jaguar and a cash prize.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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