Philanthropist wins new car

• Roberta Highland was tempted to take the cash for her causes

By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune

Roberta Highland won the car raffled off by the Homer Chamber of Commerce last week, a win that surprised her since this is the first time she has bought one of the $100 tickets.
The annual raffle, which raises funds for the Chamber’s operating budget, gives winners a choice. They can take the $15,000 in cash or chose a car from Stanley Ford of Soldotna for up to $25,000. Those who know Highland know that was likely a difficult choice. She is a board member of numerous non-profit groups, while being president of the Kachemak Conservation Society and the Kachemak Equestrian Association. With so many causes to support, the cash option presented something of a quandary.
“I was very tempted to take the cash. But this is also a chance to get a new car. I have been wanting to leave the smallest carbon foot print I can, and this is a chance to get the best miles per gallon,” Highland said Monday morning. She was hoping to get a hybrid vehicle, but was uncertain about whether Stanley Ford had any in stock.
Highland is a retired nurse who has lived in Alaska 37 years, 25 of those in Homer. She was director of home health at South Peninsula Hospital prior to her retirement 12 years ago. It will be good to get a new car, she said, but she isn’t much of a long-distance driver.
“I don’t go to Soldotna to do any of my shopping; I do it all right here in Homer. I haven’t even gone to Anchorage for seven years. Homer is the best place. All my needs are met right here,” Highland said.
Highland might not put many miles on her 1998 Subaru going to Anchorage, but she is certainly active here in town. She was one of the founding members of the Kachemak Heritage Land Trust, is busy with land acquisition projects to add to Homer’s public trail system and gets involved in most all of the local environmental causes.
“I literally don’t know how many boards I am on; I’m afraid to count,” she said.
The Homer Chamber’s raffle of vehicles has continued for 12 years, an idea developed by Kate Mitchell, owner of Nomar, and brings in about 25 percent of the Chamber’s gaming profits, said Executive Director Tina Day. It has raised about $250,000 during its span. But given the rough economy this year, the chamber had a few nervous moments about whether all of the 500 tickets would sell. Organizer Sharon Ford said on Thursday, the day of the raffle, about 80 tickets remained to be sold. “But by noon, they were all gone,” she said.
Marcia Akresh won $1,000 for selling the winning ticket to Highland and Cindy Anderson was the holder of the 499th ticket drawn, bringing her a prize of $499 sponsored by Wells Fargo.
This year’s car raffle also held a special drawing for a 2009 Honda ATV. The winner of the ATV raffle was Deni Charron, also a Homer resident.

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Posted by Newsroom on Nov 11th, 2009 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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