Winners of North Idaho College raffle receive house, car, gift cards

When Bill Hughes of Coeur d’Alene sat down at his computer Wednesday night, the last thing he expected to see was that he had won a $575,000 house.

But thanks to North Idaho College Foundation’s Really BIG Raffle, he saw just that.

“I went to my computer and put in North Idaho Raffle, and I saw my name,” said Hughes, a retired teacher from Rogers High School. “It said I was the grand prize winner… I never dreamed.”

Hughes was one of six lucky winners of the raffle.

Diana Miller of Kootenai, Idaho, won a $32,000 Subaru Forester. Brian D’Aoust of Clark Fork, Idaho, won a $2,000 Home Furnishings Gift Card. Rebecca Flamand of Coolin, Idaho, won a $1,500 gift certificate to Schweitzer Mountain Resort.

Additional “early bird” awards of two $1,000 Costco Gift Cards were given to Glen Nungesser of Post Falls and Pete Barnes of Post Falls. Ticketholders who purchased tickets by April 30 qualified for the early bird drawing.

This year marked the 33rd annual Really BIG Raffle. The raffle is sponsored by Greenstone Homes and six other sponsors.

The program was inspired by a desire to help the college.

“The goal is to support student success, access and enhance educational excellence at North Idaho College,” said Kaelynn Woodward, fundraising and events coordinator at North Idaho College. “We have a long history of wanting to provide more opportunity for the college.”

Hughes’s entry was also motivated by helping the school.

“I really like North Idaho College,” he said. “I know a few people who teach there, and I’ve gone to watch their basketball team play a number of times, and I just thought it was worthwhile. It’s worth a shot.”

All 5,000 tickets for the raffle were sold by June 17. The event has sold out since it was created.

Every year, the grand prize house is created for the raffle through a partnership with Greenstone Homes. Its construction is used as a learning resource for construction students at North Idaho College.

Hughes isn’t sure exactly what he plans to do with the house yet, but he says it’s likely that he’ll sell it.

“I really think we’re going to end up selling it, pay the taxes, and then just have the extra money and do a few things that we’ve wanted to do that we kind of put off,” he said.

If he sells the house, Hughes says he’ll probably also give some of the money to his family.

The Really BIG Raffle raises more than $300,000 each year. The raised money goes to the college.

“We have a greatest needs fundraiser … that supports all needs and opportunities that the college has or that we can be a resource for,” Woodward said.

Money from the raffle often goes to the college’s foundation grant program, which allows anyone funded by the college to apply for the opportunity to receive a grant for innovative projects on campus.

Tickets for next year’s 34th annual Really BIG Raffle are already on sale.

“We’ll definitely be back next year with the grand prize home,” Woodward said. “It’s going to be in the Coeur d’Alene Place neighborhood in Coeur d’Alene, and the drawing is on Wednesday, July 7, 2027.”