With just $5 and a little luck, you could leave the Florida Strawberry Festival with a one-of-a-kind Chevrolet Corvette Z06.
The 10th annual Stingray Chevrolet/Unity in the Community raffle’s grand prize is one of the fastest cars $85,000 can buy, a brand new Corvette with a 650-horsepower engine that can take you from 0 to 60 in 2.95 seconds. What also makes Stingray’s Z06 special is its good looks: it’s got a custom coating of “Sebring Orange” paint with black aluminum wheels and a black leather interior to match. It’s a much different look than usual, as Stingray usually offers cars in various shades of red, but it’s as eye-catching as anything the dealership has ever offered — even if your eye only sees it as a blur speeding down the highway.
If you have at least $5 and can be present at the dealership after the festival to claim your prize, you’re good to go. Jim and Kathy Goldinger, winners of the 2018 raffle, managed to win with just one ticket purchase, but contestants can buy up to 50 tickets for themselves if they wish. You don’t have to be present at the festival during the March 10 announcement to win the car but you must claim the prize within 72 hours and visit the Stingray dealership to get the car.
What if a Corvette’s not your style, or not what you need? You’ve still got options. Stingray does allow winners to choose alternate prizes that add up to the cost of the Corvette. The Goldingers decided to take a 2018 Chevrolet Traverse High Country SUV and a check for the $13,360 difference last year. In 2017, winner Mark Morgan turned the Corvette Grand Sport prize into one car and two SUVs for his three daughters.
Perhaps the best part about the raffle, if you’re looking beyond your Corvette driving dreams, is that every cent raised will be pumped into the Plant City community to help people in need. Stingray never takes a profit from the raffle, instead donating all of the funds raised to Unity in the Community no matter how large or small the total is. Unity in the Community then spreads all the money around for scholarships, charities, food banks and youth and family organizations. The raffle raised $207,000 last year alone and has generated more than $1,259,000 for the community over the last decade.
You have three options for buying tickets. Online purchases can be made at stingraychevrolet.com/chevrolet-charity-raffle-entry-form until 3 p.m. March 8. In-person purchases can be made at Stingray Chevrolet, 2002 N. Frontage Road, or at the festival. The deadlines for in-person purchases are 6 p.m. March 8 at Stingray and 4:30 p.m. March 10 at the festival. The winner’s name and phone number, not ticket numbers, will be called at the festival and the winner will be notified by phone if they are not present.
For more information about Unity in the Community, visit unityinplantcity.org.