A Laguna Beach resident won the Ocean Institute’s seventh annual Laguna Beach Million Dollar Home Raffle last Saturday, a winning ticket drawn by board member Bill Steel.
Not present for the dramatic moment, winner Aytekin “Turk” Timur was reached later by the raffle’s promoters. “My wife Joan has been supporting the Ocean Institute over the past several years by buying a raffle ticket each year,” said Timur. This year she bought the ticket in his name. “How lucky am I?” he said. “I have never won anything in my life.”
The Timurs, who already live in Laguna Beach, are opting for the cash, in lieu of the home, and plan to give it to nonprofits they support, primarily those that help less fortunate children.
Timur was one of almost 19,000 ticket holders who had each paid $150 for the chance at the grand prize and another $200,000 worth of prizes, including three Toyota Prius hybrids and a $10,000 luxury vacation, among others.
Developed by GCA Santa Barbara – Orange County, a company run by Laguna Beach residents Susan and Greg Goggin, the Ocean Institute’s raffle has succeeded in awarding the grand prize of a $1 million home or its cash equivalent every year since it started in 2005. Of the past seven winners, all but one opted for the cash.
Susan Goggin said that while similar raffles may promise a bigger grand prize, they rarely sell enough tickets to actually award the grand prize. “The Laguna Beach Home Raffle keeps its promise and the Ocean Institute is proud of that,” she said. “The raffle is a win-win for our community and our school children.”
Proceeds will benefit Ocean Institute educational programs, which are primarily aimed at public school children, including the overnight “rite of passage” that Laguna’s fourth and fifth graders experience on the decks of the institute’s tall ship Pilgrim.
For more info on the Ocean Institute, visit http://www.ocean-institute.org.
