Unity in the Community receives check for $336,000
It took Francis Schnell two hours to find parking, but the effort eventually landed her in a brand new car.
Along with her husband, Matthew, son, Mark and daughter, Nicole, at about 4 p.m., Schnell —who lives in the Westchase area of North Tampa — bought five, $5 raffle tickets for the annual Stingray Chevrolet New Vehicle Raffle.
For the 15th year, Stingray Chevrolet has donated a new car to the raffle, with proceeds going to a Plant City-based, all-volunteer organization which plans annual fundraising events for more than 60 local charities and organizations.
The actual drawing for the $93,000 2024 Corvette Convertible 3LT took place at 5 p.m. March 10 at the Florida Strawberry Festival. The Corvette was on display throughout the festival’s run and festival goers were able to purchase raffle tickets on-site.
For the 2024 edition of the vehicle raffle, a total of $336,000 was generated for Unity in Community through raffle ticket sales. Since the raffle’s inception, about $3.3 million has gone to Unity in the Community for its mission and programs.
Wednesday, the keys were officially handed over to Schnell during a 2 p.m. ceremony inside the Stingray dealership showroom.
Attending the ceremony was Sharon Moody, Unity in the Community treasurer. The organization was founded more than 25 years ago and she said over the past 15 years the raffles have helped different non-profit organizations and charities and their outreach projects, missions and fundraising efforts. Moody, is thankful for the dealership and the Florida Strawberry Festival. She said she appreciated the plaque and flowers presented to her by Steve and Susan Hurley and 30 to 40 non-profit organizations benefit from the car giveaway.
“We’ve helped between 30 to 40 organizations in addition to people in need. I think it’s a great amount of money raised even though we didn’t surpass last year’s goal, we’re still proud to have that money to give back to the community. We all give big thanks to Steve and Sue Hurley,” said Moody, recipient of the 2022 Plant City Family YMCA Strong Leader Award.
Absent from the presentation ceremony was Stingray Chevrolet owner Steve Hurley. Stingray’s Marketing and Social Media Manager, Norm Kniess, addressed the audience and read notes supplied by Hurley for the event.
“The raffle would not be possible without the collaboration of so many people coming together from around the community,” Hurley stated. “The leadership displayed by so many board of directors from the organizations that benefit from the dollars donated by Unity is outstanding and more evident each year.”
Approximately 60 guests attended the Chevrolet presentation, including Stingray staff, Strawberry Festival personnel and media sponsors, including Cox Radio, which sponsored television and radio advertising about the car giveaway.
In addition to Corvettes, the annual Stingray Chevrolet raffle has offered Chevrolet Camaros and Silverado trucks, but Hurley said the most interest is generated by the Corvettes.
That’s partially what helped persuade Schnell to buy her five tickets at Strawberry Festival at the last hour. She and her family then ate and came back for the drawing.
“I had a feeling and I told my family the day before that I would win it. I’m really shy and I don’t like attention, but I heard my name and screamed when I went up there,” she said.
